Supply chain maps | Beef
Beef supply chain
Farm Animal Transparency (FAT) maps the first links of the U.S. beef supply chain: the packing plants that buy fed cattle, the feedlots that supply them, and the public environmental compliance record of those feedlots. The six maps below were rebuilt on September 24, 2026 from verified sources.
Click any plant or feedlot on a map for details. Each map has an “About this map & sources” panel.
The six maps
Supply
Feedlot Supply Map
Twenty verified beef plants that buy fed cattle (Tyson, Cargill, JBS and National Beef, plus four independents) with 50-mile supply radii, and 312 Kansas and Nebraska feedlots (4.63 million head of one-time capacity).
Open Feedlot Supply Map →Captivity
Captivity Tiers Map
Kansas and Nebraska feedlots colored by how many of those plants lie within 50 miles: 75 yards have one, 88 have two or more, and 149 have none. Five Rivers yards are shown separately.
Open Captivity Tiers Map →Captive supply
Captive Feedlot Map
The 13 Five Rivers Cattle Feeding yards (894,500 head, company figures). JBS sold Five Rivers in 2018; the sale included a long-term agreement for Five Rivers to supply cattle to JBS.
Open Captive Feedlot Map →Enforcement
Feedlot Enforcement Map
EPA ECHO Clean Water Act records for 1,004 beef cattle feedlot permits in Kansas, Nebraska, Texas and Colorado, colored by compliance tier, retrieved September 24, 2026.
Open Feedlot Enforcement Map →Captive enforcement
Captive Feedlot Enforcement Map
ECHO records for the Five Rivers yards: six of the 13 have an NPDES permit in ECHO; the rest are marked “no ECHO record located.”
Open Captive Feedlot Enforcement Map →Integrated model
Feedlot Integrated Map
Plants, supply radii, feedlots by nearby plants, and ECHO compliance records in one view, with layers you can turn on and off.
Open Feedlot Integrated Map →Data sources and methodology
- Packing plants: verified against company sources in September 2026 (JBS cattle-buyer locations; Tyson’s August 13, 2026 beef network release; Cargill’s beef facility list; National Beef; Creekstone Farms, Greater Omaha Packing, Sustainable Beef, America’s Heartland Packing). Closed plants (Tyson Lexington NE; Tyson Joslin IL and JBS Souderton PA, closures announced 2026) and plants that buy mainly cull cows and bulls are excluded. Plant capacities are not shown.
- Feedlots: Kansas Annual Feedlot Report 2026 and the Nebraska Cattle Feeders Directory, with duplicate rows and dairies removed (312 yards). Other states are not yet included.
- Five Rivers yards: the company’s own yard pages (fiveriverscattle.com).
- Enforcement: EPA ECHO Clean Water Act facility data, retrieved September 24, 2026, with FAT compliance tiers (red = formal action in five years or significant noncompliance; orange = noncompliance plus informal action; yellow = noncompliance or informal action; green = none reported). ECHO describes violations as alleged unless resolved.
How these maps are different
Most maps of animal agriculture show either where animals are raised or where environmental violations occur. These maps combine feedlot geography with real enforcement data and present it in a format designed for shoppers as well as regulators and researchers.
Sourced
Regulatory data, not marketing claims
These maps draw on enforcement records from federal and state agencies, including inspections, violations and penalties, and every figure carries its source and as-of date.
Facility level
Facility-level visibility
View individual feedlots and their compliance history, rather than relying on broad industry summaries.
Integrated
Integrated, not siloed
Environmental data is placed directly within the beef supply chain, not separated from it.
For shoppers
Consumer-facing design
Government systems exist, but they are not built for everyday users. These maps translate complex regulatory data into usable information.
Labels
Part of a larger system
These maps connect to FAT’s 16-category framework for reading meat labels: what a beef label discloses, and what it leaves out.
Why it matters
Meat labels rarely disclose where animals were raised or how they were managed. These maps add a layer of accountability that is currently missing from the retail experience.
The goal is not to tell consumers what to buy. It is to ensure they can see the full picture before they decide.
Related reading
These maps are reviewed each quarter. Corrections welcome: dirkadams@farmanimaltransparency.com.