History of Cattle Feeding in Alberta
Woven deep in the history of Alberta is the beef cattle industry. In 1873, the first breeding herd in Alberta was brought to the south from Fort Edmonton to a mission settlement called Morleyville on the Bow River. These cattle were the offspring of the herd originally from the Red River Settlement. In 1874, larger groups of cattle started to arrive to the same mission from Montana and these were followed by southern based herds that were settled in Fort Macleod. The first small herd of cattle was released on the range in 1877. The vast opportunity seen in the grass on the open range did not go unnoticed and by 1879 the first mob of 1,000 head was driven into the area to be settled north of the Highwood River. This fueled the way for the promotion of investment in cattle enterprises and the first of lease agreements that are still the backbone of many Alberta ranches today.
By the end of World War II, Alberta's cattle industry was ready for further development and growth. With the population set to explode after the war, the possibilities of cattle feeding were limitless. Technology Plays a Large Role The feedlot industry enlarged and evolved to become a commercial enterprise offering highly specialized custom feeding. This development was accompanied by a growing dependence on scientific agriculture, with the result that the last half of the twentieth century saw cattle production and the feeding industry embrace state-of-the-art technology. These developments in feeding went hand in hand with diversification and changes in the international marketplace.
In the early sixties, cattle feeding was in full swing and periodicals such as the Canadian Cattlemen were writing significant articles discussing the new developments. Specialized Industry By 1963 livestock production in Alberta represented well over half of the total cash income for farming. Ranching and feeding was becoming more specialized as the functions of ownership and management became more complex. Farm units became larger and risk of loss grew significantly, resulting in an increase of livestock sharing, feeding and leasing arrangements.
Making its Mark From the 1970s to the 1990s the cattle feeding industry in Alberta experienced steady growth. Eventually the highest concentration of feedlots in all of western Canada was found south of the Trans-Canada Highway that runs though Calgary. Not surprisingly, the majority of large packing plants were established in the same area, as their proximity to cattle sources improved efficiency. There was also a recognizable trend toward large custom lots feeding the majority of the province's cattle. By the mid-eighties, only about one in ten feedlots had a capacity for more than 10,000 cattle, yet that group fed almost forty percent of the cattle in the province. In other words, most cattle owners owned only a few feeders, and a relatively small number of cattle feeders had a large number of animals.