Cow Numbers and Herds Decline
The USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service has released the 2007 Census of Agriculture. Compared to the 2002 Census, the number of beef cattle operations declined 4% (dairy operations declined 24%) and the number of beef cows went down 2%. Average number of beef cows per operation was 42.9 in 2007 and 41.9 in 2002. There were 79% of the beef cow operations with less than 50 cows, containing 29% of the total cow numbers. Texas had over 16% of the beef cows in the U.S. followed by Oklahoma with 6% and no other state with over 2%. (USDA-NASS)