Filename:
WAM33692
Headline:
The splayed and bloated bodies of dead cattle, some appearing to be dairy breeds, lie decomposing in the yard of a massive feedlot. This particular facility holds up to 115,000 cattle. McElhaney Feedyard, Wellton, Arizona, USA, 2023. Ram Daya / We Animals
Description:
As of 2023, the US state of Arizona has approximately 80 dairy farms that use 195,000 cows for milk production, making the average herd size more than 2,000 cows per farm. We Animals photojournalist Ram Daya visited several Arizona industrial farms in the late summer of 2023 to document the scale of the state's expanding animal agriculture industry.
McElhaney Feedyard is a 141-hectare (350-acre) feedlot in Wellton, Arizona and holds up to 115,000 cattle. It is owned by Five Rivers Cattle Feeding, LLC, the self proclaimed largest cattle feeder in the world. The enterprise owns 13 feedlots in six different US states, which can house 865,000 cattle at any one time between them.
Summer temperatures in Arizona can exceed 43 degrees Celsius (110 degrees Fahrenheit). Though shade structures are provided, cattle are at high risk for heat stress when daytime temperatures exceed 90 degrees Fahrenheit and nighttime temperatures remain above 70 degrees Fahrenheit. In extreme cases this can lead to death. In July 2023 Arizona experienced a record-breaking mega heat wave with 22 straight days of daytime temperatures ranging from 100 to 117 degrees Fahrenheit and nighttime temperatures of 90 degrees Fahrenheit. As summer heat waves driven by climate change become more common, farmed animals are at higher risk for death due to heat-related causes.
Area of Focus:
Food Systems,Farmed Animals
Supplemental categories:
Feedlots, Food Systems
Sublocation:
McElhaney Feedyard
City:
Wellton
Province/State:
Arizona
Country:
USA
Photographer/Filmmaker:
*Ram Daya
Credit:
Ram Daya / We Animals
Year:
2023
License Type(s):
Non-Commercial Use, Commercial Use
Release status:
No release
WA Keywords:
- *Arizona2023
- *CAFOArizona2023
- *Shoot 01-0044
- aerial view
- agriculture
- Americas
- animal
- animal agriculture
- animal farm
- Arizona
- beef cattle
- black and white
- bovid
- bovine
- cattle
- cattle farming
- cross section
- day
- dead animal
- death
- decomposing
- domesticated cattle
- drone view
- even-toed ungulate
- factory farm
- factory farming
- farm
- farm animal
- farmed animal
- farming
- feedlot
- Five Rivers Cattle Feeding
- flesh
- graphic
- hoofed mammal
- industry
- intensive livestock operation
- mammal
- McElhaney Feedyard
- North America
- outdoors
- part of
- ruminant
- sliced
- USA
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