Out of all the "fast" food restauraunts, I typically find McDonalds to be a little better quality than its competitors like Dairy Queen, A&W, Burger king, Wendy's, etc. I think, as Reef Pilot mentioned, they have to be. They're the biggest and most visible and any of their competitors would LOVE to bring them down for poor quality control.
As for Feedlot Beef vs. some backyard rancher who can only run 16 head on a quarter section... give me the feedlot beef any day. I've worked as a penrider in feedlots as well as a ranch hand on bigger cattle operations. The big operations (both cow/calf and feedlot) tend to take a more professional approach to raising cattle. When treatment is needed they check the estimated ship date of the animal against any drug withdrawl guidelines to make sure they use the appropriate and legal drugs for the individual animals situation. Like McDonalds, it's because they have to. There is too much at stake (steak!) for them to take shortcuts and risk getting shut down. Small backyard and hobby farmers don't come under the same scrutiny, don't have the same knowledge and experience, and quite often don't care. I've seen hobby farmers using drugs and hormones on their animals with zero consideration about withdrawl times or recommended doses. Makes my skin crawl.
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