direction, and by the 1950s the cattle in most highly
regarded herds were much too small and predisposed
to fattening to be profitable under any commercial
management programme.
A major change in the United States beef industry
began in the mid-1950s, with the development
of large feedlots in the Great Plains states. To be
profitable in these new feedlots, cattle had to be
able to grow at a fairly high rate for a long feeding
period (four or five months) without getting too fat.
The small early fattening cattle which had previously
been popular were not acceptable to the feedlot
industry. Charolais and other continental European
breeds became popular, and cattle of the British beef
breeds were selected for increased size and growth.
From the mid-1950s to the late 1960s, larger cattle
were favoured as long as they were fairly compact in
their conformation. However, by the late 1960s, larger
cattle were favoured, even if they were taller and
very different in their conformation from the popular
cattle of the earlier period. Within a few years, cattle
were being selected for larger frame size, even in the
continental European breeds. This selection was also
quite effective, and extremely large animals were
produced.
In the mid to late 1980s, several of the major
breeding organizations realized that the trend had
gone too far, and moves were made to produce more
moderate sized animals. In the last ten years, more
breeders have recognized that intermediate size is
preferable to extremes in any direction. However, they
continue to be in the minority, and extremely large
cattle have continued to be favoured in many major
herds.