Has the use of growth promotants caused a reduction in the number of smaller farms?
The use of growth promotants provides an economic advantage to all beef producers regardless of size. They do not put smaller farmers at a disadvantage. Growth-promoting products, including implants, can easily be utilized by all cattle producers, whether they have a few head of cattle or several thousand. The per-head economic advantages that growth promotants provide are the same, regardless of the size of the operation. There is no additional economic advantage or benefit for large producers and there is no “cause and effect” between growth promotants and the trend to consolidation in the industry.
