Beef cattle are
cattle raised for
meat production (as distinguished from
dairy cattle, used for milk production). The meat of adult cattle is known as
beef. There are three main stages in beef production:
cow-calf operations,
backgrounding, and
feedlot operations. When raised in a feedlot, cattle are known as
feeder cattle. Many such feeder cattle are born in cow-calf operations specifically designed to produce beef calves. While the principal use of beef cattle is meat production, other uses include
leather, and products used in
shampoo and
cosmetics.