Majority of Beef Cattle Farms Have Small Herds

The United States has numerous beef cow-calf farms that raise beef calves at least through weaning. However, USDA data says while there are a large number of farms, most are relatively small. Data from the 2022 Census of Agriculture indicated that 55 percent of America’s farms with beef cattle had fewer than 20 beef cows on December 31, 200, while less than one percent had 1,000 or more beef cows. Farms with fewer than 20 beef cows held nine percent of the national inventory of cows, and those with 1,000 cows or more held 10 percent of the inventory. Farms with 290 to 999 beef cows held 35 percent of the inventory. With 29.2 million beef cows on 622,000 farms on December 31, 2022, the average beef farm had 47 cows. USDA says the cow-calf segment of the U.S. beef industry is diverse and farms are located in every state.