Editing User:Raven/ignore me (section)

== Husbandry ==

=== Practices ===
{{further|Animal husbandry}}

[[File:Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations diagram.svg|thumb|upright=1.5|In [[concentrated animal feeding operation]]s, the cattle are not allowed to wander and graze, as food is brought to them in a [[feedlot]].<ref name="EPA CAFO Manual"/>]]

Cattle are often raised by allowing herds to [[Grass fed beef|graze on the grasses]] of large tracts of [[rangeland]]. Raising cattle extensively in this manner allows the use of land that might be unsuitable for growing crops. The most common interactions with cattle involve daily [[cattle feeding|feeding]], cleaning and [[milking]]. Many routine husbandry practices involve [[ear tag]]ging, [[Livestock dehorning|dehorning]], loading, [[Veterinary surgery|medical operations]], [[Artificial insemination of cattle|artificial insemination]], vaccinations and [[Cloven hoof|hoof]] care, as well as training for agricultural shows and preparations. Around the world, [[Fula people|Fulani]] husbandry rests on behavioural techniques, whereas in Europe, cattle are controlled primarily by physical means, such as [[fence]]s.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Lott |first=Dale F. |author2=Hart, Benjamin L. |title=Applied ethology in a nomadic cattle culture |journal=Applied Animal Ethology |volume=5 |issue=4 |pages=309–319 |date=October 1979 |doi=10.1016/0304-3762(79)90102-0}}</ref> Breeders use cattle husbandry to reduce [[tuberculosis]] susceptibility by [[selective breeding]] and maintaining herd health to avoid concurrent disease.<ref>{{cite report |last1=Krebs |first1=J.R. |last2=Anderson |first2=T. |last3=Clutton-Brock |first3=W.T. |title=Bovine tuberculosis in cattle and badgers: an independent scientific review |publisher=[[Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food]] |year=1997 |url=http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/tb/publications/hpanel.pdf |access-date=4 September 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040722232232/http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/tb/publications/hpanel.pdf |archive-date=22 July 2004|display-authors=etal}}</ref>

In the United States, many cattle are raised intensively, kept in [[concentrated animal feeding operation]]s, meaning there are at least 700 mature dairy cows or at least 1000 other cattle stabled or confined in a [[feedlot]] for "45 days or more in a 12-month period".<ref name="EPA CAFO Manual">{{cite report |date=February 2012 |title=NPDES Permit Writers' Manual for Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations |url=https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2015-10/documents/cafo_permitmanual_entire.pdf|publisher=[[United States Environmental Protection Agency]] |location=Washington, D.C. |id=EPA 833-F-12-001 |chapter=2. AFOs and CAFOs}}</ref>{{-}}

<gallery class=center mode=nolines widths=220 heights=220>
File:Cattle inspected for ticks.jpg|A Hereford being inspected for [[tick]]s. Cattle are often restrained in [[cattle crush]]es when given medical attention.
File:Anneau anti tetee P1190486.jpg|A calf with a [[Nose ring (animal)|nose ring]] to prevent it from suckling, usually to assist in [[weaning]]
File:Beef cattle in a feedlot in New Mexico.jpg|Cattle feedlot in [[New Mexico]], United States
</gallery>

=== Population ===

[[File:Cattle-livestock-count-heads.png|thumb|upright=1.35|Cattle headcounts by country, as of 2021]]

Historically, the cattle population of Britain rose from 9.8 million in 1878 to 11.7 million in 1908, but beef consumption rose much faster. Britain became the "stud farm of the world" exporting livestock to countries where there were no indigenous cattle. In 1929 80% of the meat trade of the world was products of what were originally English breeds. There were nearly 70 million cattle in the US by the early 1930s.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Otter |first1=Chris |title=Diet for a large planet |date=2020 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-69710-9 |location=USA |page=26}}</ref>

Cattle have the largest biomass of any animal species on Earth, at roughly 400 million tonnes, followed closely by [[Antarctic krill]] at 379 million tonnes and humans at 373 million tonnes.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bar-On |first1=Yinon M. |last2=Phillips |first2=Rob |last3=Milo |first3=Ron |date=21 May 2018 |title=The biomass distribution on Earth |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=115 |issue=25 |pages=6506–6511 |bibcode=2018PNAS..115.6506B |doi=10.1073/pnas.1711842115 |pmc=6016768 |pmid=29784790 |doi-access=free}}</ref> In 2023, the countries with the most cattle were India with 307.5 million (32.6% of the total), Brazil with 194.4 million, and China with 101.5 million, out of a total of 942.6 million in the world.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Cook |first1=Rob |title=Ranking Of Countries With The Most Cattle |url=https://www.nationalbeefwire.com/ranking-of-countries-with-the-most-cattle |website=National Beef Wire |access-date=14 February 2024 |date=9 January 2024}}</ref>