Designed by Cattlemen for Cattlemen
Hoop Beef System® is a complete package that delivers buildings, bunks, waterers, gates, blueprints, construction advice, nutrition advice on ethanol co-product usage, and complete consulting services for effective system set-up to provide a controlled environment that protects the beef animal from environmental extremes, while incorporating and utilizing the cattle’s natural behaviors and instincts.
In contrast, conventional open cattle feedlots have fence-line feed bunks and a concrete apron in front of the bunk for the cattle to stand on while eating; but the rest of the dirt feedlot is open to the sun, wind, snow, rain and resulting mud and wind chill. Conventional systems do not protect the beef animal from extreme weather stresses. The associated stresses, from the conventional beef system, lead to decreased feed efficiency, lower weight-gains, disease development, and higher death loss in cattle. In addition, the conventional system is more labor intensive, because the mud lots must be repeatedly scraped and dirt mounds built in an attempt to keep the animals out of the snow and mud. The feed bunks are in the open and unprotected from snow and rain. Snow and spoiled wet feed must be repeatedly scooped out of the bunk to keep the bunks dry. This increases labor expenses
With today’s DNR and EPA Standards ever increasing, a larger concern for conventional feeding systems is the potential for polluting the environment with manure runoff from the open lots after a rain or snow melt. The EPA is enforcing new rules to prevent the pollution of streams and ditches next to conventional cattle feed lots and they are requiring expensive containment basins or lagoons to be built to prevent run off from open feedlots. The result of lagoons and containment basins is the creation of an odor problem from the breakdown of the liquid manure that is contained. Consequently, the solution to water pollution creates air pollution.
Hoop Beef System® was designed to provide a controlled environment without the associated pollution of water and air that conventional cattle feeding systems create with manure runoff.
Furthermore, simulating cattle feeding in a controlled environment is not an easy endeavor. Particularly in the Mid-West climates, which may typically range from winter wind chills approaching -35F to summer heat indexes of +114F. Accordingly, Hoop Beef System® provides a controlled environment that will modify the extreme weather fluctuations to a thermal neutral environment where the beef animal can thrive.
Finally, alternative confinement cattle feeding systems usually have several hundred cattle in a pen and may not have adequate bunk and water space so that the cattle, a herd animal, can all have easy access to water and feed. Hoop Beef System® ensures that all animals through all stages of their production are provided with adequate space requirements. The Hoop Beef System® provides 40sq ft per animal under roof with the feed bunk and water included, which is double the space many confined feeding systems on slatted floors allow.
We believe once you’ve seen your options and compared performance and pricing, there is no comparison to the Hoop Beef System®.
Hoop Beef System® is dedicated to providing an economically viable, ecologically sound and socially responsible system of cattle feeding for the family farmer, rancher and commercial feedlot operator.
