Beef Production in America

As I move through this project I have been learning so much about where our beef comes from. My main project is looking at how family farms affect their community, but I can’t start to look into that until I know how the industry itself works.

The beef production in America has grown and changed over the years. Feeding, raising, and butchering techniques have shifted and evolved to produce bigger calves faster and more efficiently. Farmers and ranchers have started feeding their calves at younger ages and finding the perfect mix of grains and nutrition.

Beef production in America is growing at a drastic rate. Within a year's time the the amount of beef cattle in America has risen by 3%. The current amount (2017) of beef cattle in America is at 31.2 head of cattle. As of this January 1st, the top leading states in raising beef cattle were Texas, Nebraska, Kansas, California, and Oklahoma; each state produced 5 million to 12.3 million head of cattle. This is very interesting to see, for I will not be interviewing anymore from these big states, but from a northwestern state known for its dairy production.

In 2017, states with feedlots housing over a 100 head of cattle were Texas, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, and Iowa, decreasing respectively. Each state produced over .6 million to 2.42 million head of cattle. With the total number of cattle rasing and breeding operations at 913,246 in the United States, 727,906 of those operations are beef ranches and farms. This means that the other 185,340 ranches and farms are producing dairy products.

PC: Jaksen Curtin

About 97% of these beef ranches and farms are family-owned farms that are individually owned and operated. Out of all of those, 11% are women-operated and owned. Farming is generally a male dominated activity and most farmers are run by a man and his family.

On January 1st, 2016 approximately 81% of cattle on feed were housed on feedlots with a capacity of over 1,000 head of cattle. These feedlots are able to house many cattle, reed them fast, and quickly get them ready to be butchered as a very fast rate. The United beef production was 25.2 billion pounds of commercial weight beef in 2016. The commercial slaughter was at 30.5 head. Beef consumption totaled out to be 25.68 billion pounds and each pound priced approximately $5.96.

Along with this, the United States beef exports are a total of $6.343 billion dollars, with the top buying countries being Japan, Mexico, South Korea, Canada, Hong Kong, and the Middle East. These cattle are shipped both alive and already butchered and packaged. I have heard rumors that it is easy to ship cattle to the Mexico or Canada for their prices as preparing the meat is cheaper.

PC: Jaksen Curtin

Now that’s a lot of number and letters put together. With that much beef being produced each year and 81% of that coming from feedlots, how much beef is being brought from family farms? Family farms are what keeps the beef industry humble. 88% of all the farms and ranches in the US are small family-run farms. Around 58% of direct sales to consumers come from these small family farm operations.

These small family-run and -operated farms are the spine of the American beef operation. These small, local farms are keeping old traditions alive. Moving cattle from pasture to pasture from horseback is just one thing would be lost if the beef industry was strictly run by industrial farms, especially since less than 2% of Americans are farmers and ranches.

Beef production is only going to increase as the population rises. The beef industry is growing in crazy ways and American beef is being sold around the world for others to consume.

“The unproductive tillage of human cattle takes that which of right belongs to free labor, and which is necessary for the support and happiness of our own race.” - David Wilmot

What else do you know about the beef industry?

-Jaksen

Resources:

"Beef Industry Statistics." Beef USA. National Cattlemen's Beef Association, 2017. Web. 10 May 2017.

Release, News. "USDA: 97% of All Farms Are Family-Owned." AgWeb - The Home Page of Agriculture. Farm Journal, Inc., 18 Mar. 2015. Web. 10 May 2017.

http://www.explorebeef.org/cmdocs/explorebeef/imcsrcommunities.pdf

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