At the Winter Feed Yard in Dodge City a grateful former employee created a sculpture for owner Ken Winter.
One reason for the drugs: To fatten cattle, such as these seen in a feed yard before being sent for slaughter. Most cows are slaughtered barely a year after birth.
Cattle in a feed yard that sits on the northwest edge of Garden City, Kan.
Big Piles of manure stack up in feedlots, such as seen in this lot near Garden City, Kan.
A feed truck brings food to cattle in a feed yard near Dodge City, Kan.
Government rules require feedlots to contain the waste they produce, which often means controlling water runoff in a series of lagoons and retention structures. Viewed from the air, retention ponds are visible at a feedlot in southwest Kansas.
Cattle line up for food at a feed yard between Garden City and Dodge City, Kan.
The Dodge City south wastewater reclamation facility treats water from the city and industrial waste from area meatpacking plants. It is about 11 miles south of town.
"We recognize that we're just stewards" of the land, says Allan Sents, who owns McPherson County Feeders near Marquette, Kan. On a typical day, the feedlot takes care of more than 11,000 cattle.
The Dodge City south wastewater reclamation facility treats water from the city and industrial waste from area meatpacking plants. It is about 11 miles south of town. The reclaimed water is used to irrigate surrounding farm fields.
Cattle go after hay thrown into their feed trough.
Antibiotics that pass through cattle can wind up in their manure, which is often spread as fertilizer-such as on this field near Garden City, Kan. Drug-resistant bacteria are showing up in America's soil, posing health risks for humans.
Gasses from Dodge City's south wastewater reclamation facility burn off on Monday evening, Oct. 22, 2012. The facility, about 11 miles south of town, treats water from the city and industrial waste from area meatpacking plants, creating the need to burn off gasses.