List of union stockyards in the United States

Union stockyards in the United States were centralized urban livestock yards where multiple rail lines delivered animals from ranches and farms for slaughter and meat packing. A stockyard company managed the work of unloading the livestock, which was faster and more efficient than using railway staff.[1] Terminal stockyards received, handled, fed, watered, weighed, held, and forward-shipped commercial livestock.[2] The Chicago Union Stock Yards were the most famous and enduring example of this type of commercial complex. They are considered one of the chief drivers that empowered the animal–industrial complex into its modern form.[3][4] Stock yards also existed in Canada. Livestock from ranches in Mexico and points south were sometimes driven to American stockyards.

Union Stock Yard Pens, Omaha, Nebraska (postcard image from 1930s or 1940s)

Circa 1923 there were approximately 70 major stockyards in the United States.[5] Stockyards mostly handled cattle and pigs for beef and pork production, but occasionally served as waystations for other animals. For example, around 1934 a dozen American bison from Colorado headed for Santa Catalina Island were held at the Los Angeles Union Stock Yards before boarding the ferry for their final leg of the trip.[6]

List of major commercial stockyards in the United States

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Union Stock Yards manager letter" (PDF). govinfo.gov.
  2. ^ Appropriations, United States Congress House Committee on (1960). Hearings Before Subcommittee of House Committee on Appropriations. U.S. Government Printing Office.
  3. ^ Sorenson, John (2014). Critical Animal Studies: Thinking the Unthinkable. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Canadian Scholars' Press. pp. 299–300. ISBN 978-1-55130-563-9. Archived from the original on October 23, 2021. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
  4. ^ Nibert, David (2011). "Origins and Consequences of the Animal Industrial Complex". In Steven Best; Richard Kahn; Anthony J. Nocella II; Peter McLaren (eds.). The Global Industrial Complex: Systems of Domination. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 200. ISBN 978-0739136980.
  5. ^ a b Miscellaneous Bulletins on Reconstruction in the United States: vol. 1-16. 1923.
  6. ^ Dredge, Bill (18 January 1949). "BUFFALO ROUNDUP ECHO OF OLD WEST: Santa Catalina Herd, Scattered by Storm, Vanishes From Usual Island Grazing Areas BUFFALO ROUNDUP". Los Angeles Times. p. 2. ProQuest 165940032.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Administration, United States Packers and Stockyards (1921). Report of the Packers and Stockyards Administration. U.S. Government Printing Office.
  8. ^ a b Agriculture, United States Department of (1924). Report of the Secretary of Agriculture. U.S. Government Printing Office.
  9. ^ Lynn, Greg (2012-03-28). "Peoria Union Stockyards". Peoria Magazine. Retrieved 2023-02-19.