start getting used for meat? I thought that was what beef cattle were raised for. It was my understanding that a dairy cow was so filled with drugs to make it produce more milk that it wasn't any good for butchering. I wonder if dairy farmers eat their dairy cows when they no longer produce or is it saved for us regular folk?

from the farming/ranching point of view..

when a cow...any cow..stops producing viable calves. and dairy cows need to produce a calf to produce their milk.

they become #261 or #618 at the local sale..
for the butcher block..


ps...
if possible..ranchers will feed a special steer for slaughter..a nice steady diet of GUUD stuff.

but..we do take one for the team, and keep the loser of the loser of the bunch if they arent too bad.

80% of the beef industry is rules by 1 of 3 corporations and at their mass slaughter facilities they will take certain cattle on a single basis..for 10%less market value at NO QUESTIONS ASKED.

Several million dairy cows are slaughtered each year in the U.S..  The meat is usually used in processed meat products or ground up as hamburgers.  Some of them are so weak or diseased (downers) that they can't make it into the slaughter house without assistance.

that's why i raise and butcher my own meat.

I would, but the Homeowners' Association might not approve...

Dairy cows have always been used for meat. At the end of their useful milk producing life, a cow is usually sold for beef at the local auction. The age of the cow may be 3 to 8 years old depending on her production records. Poor production means poor profits, so the cow may be sold early in life. A 3 year old cow should provide good quality of meat regardless of cut, while with an 8 year old, you might not want to eat the steak. The local meat market may buy an older cow and use the meat for balogna, sausage, hot dogs,hamburger, etc. The meat market must have an inspector on site if they do their own slaughtering. The meat is USDA inspected. As long as I know the conditions/reasons the cow is being sold, I'd trust the meat moreso than a fast food burger. As for dairy cattle being given drugs to boost production, I canb only speak about the hormone BST ( I think that is correct). Cattle can be given a USDA approved hormone to increase production of milk. There was no change in the milk itself, just more of it. The cow already had this hormone in her system to produce milk, but was given more hormones to produce more milk and increasing profits. Not all farmers think this hormone is a good idea because the cows are already being fed for maximum production. The hormone generates a faster turnover in cows by causing an early end of the useful milk production cycle. It's kind of like driving your 4 cylinder car at 100 MPH. Sure it will do it, but not as long as at 60.

But what the hell do I know, I only did this for 20 years.

Fred

5 replys in the time it took me to type this

20 years, heck fred, you got me beat by three years. Nice to see someone else comenting here who knows what the hell they are talking about:)
As another former dairyman, I concur with all of what Fred said...

Which is why I no longer eat any animal products.

-ChaZ

Ok, you just eat the plants that have animal excreatment placed on them for fertilizer. [:)]

you may want to look into bording the animal while you fatten it up.  i know they rent stalls to horses.  maybe they will rent one to you for your beef.

We didn't know much about BSE before the UK had there problems in the mid 1990's and in '97, enacted legislation to ban the feeding of animal products to ruminants, that being cows, goats and sheep.  Since we did not import feed from the UK and only a smattering of livestock, we thought the problem was eliminated but Canada did not put these restrictions in effect.  

You see, the world had created a niche for such a pathogen to thrive, it was only recently infected and that was in the UK.  Now we are attempting to eradicate the disease yet we know very little about it.  Like why only ruminants?  Humans get CJD and its shown to be genetically related to BSE and we are certainly NOT ruminants so are hogs safe?  

And the way chickens are processed means they too can become a part of the infection chain if they can carry it...most likely since the brain chemistry is identical.  You know the first step in chicken processing is severing the head.  Then they are thrown into a vat and the feathers are spun-plucked from the 50 or so carcasses, increasing the chance of contamination not to mention slinging out most of the fecal material onto the meat.  Not so in mammal processing.  I'll stick with pork and beef, thank you very much.  

And on dairy cows.  Nothing better than year old Holstein veal from a bull calf.  

Actually, you are referring to general produces. Since I only eat organic fruits and vegetables, it doesn't apply to me.

Organic farmers avoid fertilizers because they know they're laced with all those chemicals that dairy farmers put in their cows.

-ChaZ

Organic farmers use manure, manure is animal excreatment. Check into it.
[img]http://www.meyermfg.com/vmax-01.JPG[/img]

Ahhh... now you're saying "manure" instead of your original "fertilizer". Thanks so much for clearing that up.

Yes, organic farmers do use manures, but not in same way as other farmers does. http://www.ota.com/organic/foodsafety/manure.html

It's interesting that you think plants are made from animals because we use their excrements as a means for bacteria to thrive in the plants' environments for them to grow.

-ChaZ

Yup, that is what every farmer does around here.

_____

Hope those veggies w/ sludge taste good.

I though the term "organic farming" they don't spray on pesticides. If you organic fertilizer, if it is composted correctly the harmful bacteria should be dead.

Hey grazer boy, my brother-in-law runs a "small" dairy up in Washington State.
The "organic" farmers buy most of his cow shit for fertilizer - and he is not an "organic" dairy farmer.

HAHA!

Harmful bacteria?

You need to take your biology class again.

-ChaZ