Feedlot beef production confines cattle in pens for the final months of their lives — welfare standards for these facilities are improving but remain inadequate in many operations.
Feedlot beef production concentrates a large proportion of global beef cattle for the final growth period in conditions that present specific welfare challenges. Respiratory disease — causing significant pain and mortality — is the dominant welfare problem and reflects the stress of transport to feedlots, mixing of animals from different origins, and close confinement. Management decisions about space allowance, shade provision, mud depth, health monitoring, and stockmanship quality all substantially affect welfare outcomes. Improving feedlot welfare requires both regulatory minimum standards and market incentives for higher-welfare production. Cattle that are comfortable, healthy, and experiencing positive welfare also tend to have better feed conversion and growth outcomes — making welfare and production interests more aligned than is sometimes assumed.