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    Cattle are raised all over the world.  In India, people think cattle are holy so they aren't killed or eaten there.  Some kinds of beef cattle are Aberdeen, Angus, Brahman, Charolais, Herefords, and Polled Herefords.  Farmers pick which breed they want to raise by the climate where they live.  For example, some cattle can be raised in areas where there isn't too much water.
    Male cattle are called bulls and females are called cows.  Steers are males who cannot reproduce.  Young cows are called heifers until they have babies.  Then they are called dams.  The father is called a sire and the baby is a calf.
    Most cattle are registered.  When an animal is registered, their ancestors are traced and written down.  This is stored by an organization that keeps track of breeding information.  Cattle get an ear tag when they are registered.  The ancestors of animals are important when farmers do selective breeding.
    Cattle are usually kept in pastures where they eat the grass.  When cattle eat, they swallow and then bring the food back up into their mouths to chew again.  This is called cud.  Ranchers [Cattle farmers] know how many cattle can be kept in the pasture before all the grass will be gone.
    Calves are born in the spring.  They are watched carefully and given shots so they don't get diseases.  They get branded with a mark that shows a ranch symbol.  If the cattle wander away from the ranch, this shows people where they belong.
    Later in spring the herds are moved to different pastures so that the grass can grow back again.  Ranchers put out salt licks with minerals in them.  These are solid blocks of salt [with minerals] that cattle like to lick.  Farmers will move the herds every three or four weeks.
    Just like in cowboy movies, ranchers use horses to herd the cattle from one pasture to another.  Some ranchers use four-wheel drive vehicles.
    In fall, the herds will be moved closer to the farm house.  These pastures will be ones that were used in the early spring and will have grown grass again.  Beef cattle are usually sold then.  If cattle are kept over the winter, they go to smaller pastures nearer to the house.  This is so that the rancher does not have to go so far to check on them when it gets cold.  The ranchers will have to feed them when it snows.  
    Beef cattle are cheaper to raise than dairy cattle because they mostly eat grass.  Dairy farmers need to pay people to help them grow crops to feed their cows and they buy protein to add to the food.  This makes them cost more money. 
    Calves can be sold to other farmers who raise them in a penned area.  They are fed special food so that they fatten up quickly.  It takes between four to eight months before the calves are ready for the meat-packing plant.  A steer is ready to be sold when it is about one and a half years old.  Ranchers try to sell them at a time that they can get the most money for them.  The animals can be sold to someone who will fatten them up for market or right to a meat-processing plant.   
   

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