Everyday Ag

Cattle

Everyday Ag – Audio Tour

Cattle

Everyday Ag – Audio Tour

Welcome to the Cattle Barn!

As you look around you will see exhibitors caring for their animals, feeding rations, watering their animals, or washing them. The large fans keep the animals cool and comfortable. This combined with the other care helps keep the cattle looking their best for show day. Exhibitors can enter their cattle in several different types of contests, primarily in market and breeding classes. In market classes, the animals are judged based on their muscle, structure, and general build. Breeding classes are divided into bulls and heifers and cows. All are judged on breeding traits such as structure, balance, and conformation, as well as traits important for males and females respectively.

These contests reflect a large part of the actual market and cattle industry. Cattle are raised for many different reasons, primarily for milk, meat, and hides. Milk from cattle is the most commonly consumed dairy milk and is used to produce products like cheese, butter, yogurt, and more. Beef–meat from cattle– is very popular, especially in the US, and can appear as anything from the humble hamburger to the fanciest steak. Cattle hides are used to produce leather, which is used in the production of items such as saddles, shoes, belts, wallets, purses, and more. By-products of cattle production may also be used in other foods, such as gelatin products, or even in cosmetics like makeup. 

In addition to being sold for commercial purposes, cattle may also be sold as breeding stock or rough stock. Roughstock animals are raised and sold to be in rodeos and other similar events, where producers in the breeding stock industry selectively breed animals to produce certain traits, such as a lower birth weight in calves. These selectively bred animals are then sold to commercial producers so they can breed those traits into their herd.