National Stockyard Co. - Stock Certificate

Stock printed by Henry Seibert & Bros., N.Y. Transfer sheet included. Superb vignette of cattle farm. Railroad stockyard owned by NY Central RR. Jim Fisk and Jay Gould were both stock holders in the co. Rare!

A feedlot or feed yard is a type of animal feeding operation (AFO) which is used in intensive animal farming, notably beef cattle, but also swine, horses, sheep, turkeys, chickens or ducks, prior to slaughter. Large beef feedlots are called concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFO) in the United States and intensive livestock operations (ILOs) or confined feeding operations (CFO) in Canada. They may contain thousands of animals in an array of pens.

Cattle feeding on a large scale was first introduced in the early 60's, when a demand for higher quality beef in large quantities emerged. Farmers started becoming familiar with the finishing of beef, but also showed interest in various other aspects associated with the feedlot such as soil health, crop management, and how to manage labour costs. From the early 60's to the 90's feeding beef cattle in the feedlot style showed immense growth, and even today the feedlot industry is constantly being upgraded with new knowledge and science as well as technology. In the early 20th century, feeder operations were separate from all other related operations and feedlots were non-existent. They appeared in the 1950s and 1960s as a result of hybrid grains and irrigation techniques; the ensuing larger grain crops led to abundant grain harvests. It was suddenly possible to feed large numbers of cattle in one location and so, to cut transportation costs, grain farms and feedlot locations merged. Cattle were no longer sent from all across the southern states to places like California, where large slaughter houses were located. In the 1980s, meat packers followed the path of feedlots and are now located close by to them as well.

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