Feedlots

The Issues

Feedlots are giant properties spanning vast areas, packed full of cattle or sheep who are fed high-calorie diets and given growth hormones so they grow unnaturally fast to meet market weight for slaughter more quickly.

There’s no space to roam. There’s no vegetation. There’s inadequate or no shade or protection from rain, wind, hail or storms. Heatwaves and a lack of moving air can kill swathes of animals in a matter of hours. Gases from manure cause painful and sometimes fatal respiratory problems for the animals. The most common cause of death for cattle on feedlots is Bovine Respiratory Disease (BRD). 

With the animals crammed together, diseases are rife. Animals are pumped full of antibiotics to try to combat these diseases.

Maydan Feedlot, near Warwick, QLD

There are hundreds of feedlots in Queensland, many containing tens of thousands of animals. At any given time in Australia, there are around 1 million cattle ‘on feed’. These feedlots are usually hidden from the general public, obscured from public roads so that consumers don’t see the reality of Australian factory farming.

 

What are we doing?

  • Informing the public of the issues associated with feedlots
  • Investigating and documenting current feedlot practices in Queensland and reporting suspected violations to the authorities
  • Monitoring and opposing development applications for new feedlots in Queensland.

 

What can you do?

  • Avoid animal products – consider going vegan, a way of life that tries to avoid animal exploitation and suffering.
  • Write to your local leaders & politicians about animal suffering on feedlots.

  • Talk to people about animal cruelty and suffering on feedlots – spread the word.

  • Learn more at BEEF.org.au - download the report, sign the petition, and follow the campaign.

Find out more