What is the top speed in miles per hour of cattle found in the U.S.?
In particular, what is the top speed of the typical animal raised for
beef production in the continental U.S.? (For example, cheetahs can
achieve a top speed of 65mph, man can achieve a top speed of 12 mph.
What can cattle achieve?) Academic/trade reference is preferred for the answer.

Tulsa --

I was going to say "about 120 mph terminal velocity" when that darned
Barbara Mikkelson foiled me again:
http://www.snopes.com/critters/farce/cowtao.htm

Best regards,

Omnivorous-GA
Grandson of a dairy farmer

A bison can do 30 mph
http://www.bisoncentral.com/nba/faq.asp

Owain

Humans can run far faster than 12 mph.  During a sprint, I believe it
is somewhere around 23mph.  (200 meters in about 19.5 seconds (world
record) = about 23 miles per hour.)

Here's a link to an actual cow race that took place...

http://www.animalag.msu.edu/files/documents/press/about_taffy_063000.htm

This was over a one mile course. The winner finished in 8:54.4 which
should give her an average speed of 5.55 mph (I think). This was a
whole mile run though. From my own experience, cows are a lot faster
than that when they are sprinting... I could never catch up to them in
the barnyard!