Comments on: Good Food & Where it Comes From – The Facts About Feedlotting in Australia

By: Lizzy (Good Things)

Lizzy (Good Things) — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 08:33:11 +0000

Lordy Amanda, how did I miss this piece from you!??! Clearly I have had my head down and bum in the air with my new job and then the #HumanBrochure… not to mention that my IN box is out of control at the moment…. apologies!

Thank you for such a well presented, well researched article. People like me, who were born and bred in the city and have had little or nothing to do with the production of meat, feedlots, abattoirs and so on, need to be informed. I am certainly curious and want to learn.

I, too, plan to go on such a visit with MLA and I won’t consider it a junket. I often bang on about humane choices, ethical eating and supporting the farmers and I want to know more. I think I caught sight of a feed lot up north, but we whizzed by so fast in the car. I didn’t think it was a particularly pleasant place for the animals to be, especially not in that heat.

And now I know why you were telling me about The Omnivore’s Dilemma a few weeks ago… thank you.

By: The Bush Gourmand

The Bush Gourmand — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 00:49:04 +0000

Well done Amanda for doing the research. We can only hope that, with pressure, all our feedlots will become as well run as the one you visited.

Keep up the good work.

By: Miss Piggy

Miss Piggy — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 23:20:52 +0000

Thanks for this story – I’ve always been curious about feedlot/grainfed beef – it’s quite a lot to “digest” so I’ve printed out your post to read later on. I’m sure I’ll be back with some other comments.

By: Amanda

Amanda — Sun, 21 Oct 2012 22:41:18 +0000

Lorraine – Actually, while perceptions might be different, 75% of our beef slaughter here in Australia is grass-fed.

By: Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella

Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 23:20:19 +0000

Interesting post Amanda. Do you know what percentage of cattle is grass versus grain when you say most? We seem to have a lot of grain fed beef so I’m curious.

By: Maeve

Maeve — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 11:37:19 +0000

Thank you for a thoughtful -and thought-provoking- article.

By: Amanda

Amanda — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 22:02:45 +0000

Zoe – I’m sorry I didn’t clarify that, but I have now added my clarification to the text. I make no money from this blog and generally avoid any offers of free meals, etc. I was keen to see how this operation ran, but was in no position to pay to get to Toowoomba. While MLA did pay for my flights and overnight accommodation, this was no junket. I flew into Brisbane at 10.00 pm, was on a bus for a two hour drive to Toowoomba at 7.30 am the next morning, back on the bus for the two hour drive to Brisbane at 3.00pm and back on a plane home by 7.15pm that night. I arrived home at 11.00pm, exhausted – there was no time for meals, except for the barbecue lunch provided at Beef City.

By: Zoe

Zoe — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 20:47:49 +0000

Hi Amanda, you say Meat & Livestock invited you, but can you please clarify whether you were their guest, ie airfares, accommodation, meals?

By: Amanda

Amanda — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 02:05:34 +0000

Michele – Just to address some of your points -
Some of the largest and best run feedlots in Australia are family owned. There is no correlation between the quality of systems and programs in a family versus corporate feedlot.
Not all grass feed farms are run professionally either and feedlot properties are in fact governed by a quality assurance scheme – not a situation shared by grass fed properties. We’ve all heard of or seen stock left exposed or horribly neglected in paddocks. There are bad apples in every basket.
As I pointed out, the Australian lots are finishing properties and the beasts spend 80-90% of their lives in the paddock.
Over 60% of feedlot cattle in Australia have access to shade, all feedlot cattle have access to water 24/7 and all have license condition requirements regarding stocking density – again, this cannot be said of paddocked cattle.
I’m not trying to convert anyone or operate as a mouthpiece for a production model. I’ve already previously written on how we prefer to raise our own cattle but I do want people to be aware of the differences between our feedlot system and that of the US. I don’t think we deserve to be tarred with that brush.

Charlotte – I guess I was a little unclear about what exactly was confronting about my big day out. The feedlot was in no way confronting, on the contrary it all looked pretty relaxed. But standing on the killing floor of an abattoir is another matter all together – again, it wasn’t as bad as I’d imagined, but hardly “enjoyable”.

Barbara – clearly our brains are on the same wave-length. I’ll be interested to read your thoughts on the issue.

Pigs & Bishops – there are indeed sheep feedlots and I know next to nothing about them. I guess that will have to be my next project.

By: Hotly Spiced

Hotly Spiced — Thu, 18 Oct 2012 01:58:01 +0000

Great post, Amanda. You write so well. I’m so pleased to hear feed-lots in Australia are to a very high standard. The US needs to lift its game – its citizens shouldn’t have to eat meat that’s been fed chemicals, pesticides, anti-biotics and GM foods. xx