They're slaughtered at different ages and weights depending on what the buyers want. Young bulls, steers (castrated bulls) and heifers (young females) can all be used in beef production. Store production - where young animals are grown quite slowly, using relatively cheap home-grown crops.Finishing systems - where animals are fed a diet to get them ready for slaughter.Suckled calf production - calves are reared by their mothers until they're weaned at around six to eight months, and then fattened ready for slaughter elsewhere.There are three main methods of beef production: 'Intensive' indoor systems where, in some cases, they may be housed indoors their whole lives.'Extensive' grazing-based systems - where they're mainly kept in fields but may be housed for part of the year.These include early-maturing British breeds, such as the Aberdeen Angus and the Hereford, and later-maturing continental breeds, such as the Limousin and the Charolais. There are over 1.5 million beef breeding cows in the UK, with a number of different pure beef breeds being reared.

Raising bulls for breeding