I 





.iHs 



Figure 27. — Feedlots provide an increasing share of 

 beef production. 



of lean beef. Imports have made up the dif- 

 ference. Imports of beef approximated 9 per- 

 cent of domestic production in 1968. On the 

 other hand, exports commonly are less than 1 

 percent of domestic production. 



American agriculture has the capacity to 

 respond to the projected increased demands 

 for meat and will respond if price relation- 

 ships are favorable. This capacity to respond 

 has been demonstrated : Between 1960 and 1968 

 beef production increased 41 percent. This in- 

 crease, along with a doubling of beef imports, 

 provided beef for an 11 percent increase in 

 population and for the increasing preference 

 by consumers for beef over other meats. 



Expansion of the feeder cattle industry will 

 lead to additional competition among range- 

 lands, improved pastures, and croplands. More 

 than 50 million acres of cropland, surplus to 

 the Nation's needs for crops, is available and 

 could be shifted into forage production 

 (fig. 28). 



USDA-Soil Conservation Service 



Figure 28. — An abandoned and eroded cotton farm was converted to this high-yielding improved pasture. 



45 



