To be considered CAFOs or Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, a facility must meet the definition of AFO animal feeding operations.
CAFOs are agricultural enterprises where a large numbers animas are kept and raised in close quarter. Its congregate animals, deed, manure and urine, dead animals and production operations on a small land area.
The production systems include facilities for ventilations, heating, feed preparation, and delivery and for disposal of animal wastes.
For beef cattle to be defined as CAFOs it must have 1000 feeder and slaughter cattle. CAFOs is a feedlot where cattle are fattened before moved to a processing facility. It is a place where the cattle are raised in enclosed area.
In the typical cycle of raising beef cattle, the animals spend most of their lives grazing on rangeland. Between the ages of twelve and sixteen months, they reach a weight of about 295kg.
Ranchers then transfer the cattle to a feedlot. They remain there for another three or four months before going to a processor.
In CAFOs system the cattle are closely confined in building where they are fed, grown and defecate with little or no contact with the outdoors.
While in the past farms often raised crops and livestock producing at least some portion of crops for livestock feed and then using the manure as fertilizer, CAFOs necessitate the purchase of animal feed and result in the concentration of manure.
Waste from cattle CAFODs is often spread on fields and discard into the soil.
CAFOs of beef cattle
