Beef cattle are bovine cattle raised for meat production (as distinguished from dairy cattle). The meat of cattle is known as beef. While the principal use of beef cattle is meat production, other uses include leather, and products used in shampoo and cosmetics. The plural beeves, when referring to such meat-animals (of either sex), is well known in the American cattle industry, but is often restricted to steers.
Malaysia is blessed with fertile land and a climate conducive for farming. However, it still spends about RM13 billion a year on food products from abroad and produces only RM7 billion worth of its own food.
Meat products constitute a significant bulk of imported food produce, about RM4 billion annually, while only about RM1.4 billion is sourced locally. In contrast, the Netherlands which is only about the size of Pahang is the world's second largest food producer after the US.
The Government has taken cognisance of this and is making efforts to exploit Malaysia's potential in food production and slash its huge food import bill. The Agriculture and Agro-based Ministry has already taken steps to overturn this food deficit by 2010. One of the many sub-sectors identified under the food products category is the rearing of cattle and livestock for meat and dairy products.
Under the National Meat Policy (ruminant sector), Malaysia - which has almost one million cows and buffaloes - aims to increase that to 1.6 million in 2015.
