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The Diverse Structure and Organization of U.S. Beef Cow-Calf Farms

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  • McBride, William D.
  • Mathews, Kenneth H., Jr.

Abstract

Beef cow-calf production in the United States is widespread, occurring in every State. Nearly 765,000 farms, about 35 percent of the 2.2 million farms in the United States, had a beef cow inventory in 2007. Most of these were small, part-time operations. About a third of farms that raise beef animals had a beef cow inventory of less than 10 cows, more than half had fewer than 20 cows, and nearly 80 percent had fewer than 50 cows. In this study, ERS uses data from USDA’s 2008 Agricultural Resource Management Survey for U.S. beef cow-calf operations to examine the structure, costs, and characteristics of beef cow-calf producers. Many small operations are “rural residence farms” that specialize in beef cow-calf production, but their income from off-farm sources exceeds that from the farm. Most beef cow-calf production occurs on large farms, but cow-calf production is not the primary enterprise on many of these farms. Findings suggest that operators of beef cow-calf farms have a diverse set of goals for the cattle enterprise.

Suggested Citation

  • McBride, William D. & Mathews, Kenneth H., Jr., 2011. "The Diverse Structure and Organization of U.S. Beef Cow-Calf Farms," Economic Information Bulletin 102764, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:uersib:102764
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.102764
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    1. Key, Nigel D. & McBride, William D., 2007. "The Changing Economics of U.S. Hog Production," Economic Research Report 6389, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
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    Cited by:

    1. Lacy, R. Curt & Pruitt, J. Ross & Hancock, Dennis W., 2015. "Economic Returns and Risk Analysis of Forage Wrapping Technologies," Journal of the ASFMRA, American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers, vol. 2015, pages 1-15.
    2. Boyer, Christopher M. & McFarlane, Zach McFarlane & Mulliniks, Travis & Griffith, Andrew P., 2018. "Investment into Developing Heifers: When Does She Become Profitable?," 2018 Annual Meeting, August 5-7, Washington, D.C. 274108, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    3. Scott W. Fausti & Matthew A. Diersen, 2020. "Competitive forces affecting capacity decisions of South Dakota feedlot operations," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 51(3), pages 459-473, May.
    4. Baines, Joseph, 2017. "Accumulating through Food Crisis? Farmers, Commodity Traders and the Distributional Politics of Financialization," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 24(3), pages 497-537.
    5. Gillespie, Jeffrey M. & Nehring, Richard F., 2012. "The Economics of Organic Versus Conventional Cow-calf Production," 2012 Annual Meeting, February 4-7, 2012, Birmingham, Alabama 119773, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
    6. Jean L. Steiner & David D. Briske & David P. Brown & Caitlin M. Rottler, 2018. "Vulnerability of Southern Plains agriculture to climate change," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 146(1), pages 201-218, January.
    7. Boyer, Christopher & Keyser, Patrick, 2020. "Summary of the Economic and Production Performance of Native Grasses as Forage in the Fescue Belt," Research Reports 305656, University of Tennessee, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics.
    8. Boyer, Christopher N. & Griffith, Andrew P. & Roberts, Roland K. & Savoy, Hubert J. & Leib, Brian G., 2014. "Managing Nitrate Levels in Bermudagrass Hay: Implications for Net Returns," Journal of the ASFMRA, American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers, vol. 2014, pages 1-16.
    9. Boyer, Christopher M. & McFarlane, Zach McFarlane & Mulliniks, Travis & Griffith, Andrew P., 2018. "Simulating Calving Season Length Impact on Beef Cattle Profitability," 2018 Annual Meeting, August 5-7, Washington, D.C. 274107, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    10. Smith, Katy V. & DeLong, Karen L. & Griffith, Andrew P. & Boyer, Christopher N. & Martinez, Charley & Jensen, Kimberley L., 2023. "Cow-Calf Producer Preferences for Bull Genomic Enhanced Expected Progeny Differences," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 48(3), September.
    11. Tong Wang & W. Richard Teague & Seong C. Park & Stan Bevers, 2015. "GHG Mitigation Potential of Different Grazing Strategies in the United States Southern Great Plains," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(10), pages 1-22, September.
    12. Patalee, M.A. Buddhika & Tonsor, Glynn T., 2021. "Impact of weather on cow-calf industry locations and production in the United States," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    13. Lopez, Jose & Bankole, Taiwo & Wahrmund, Jackie, 2017. "A Hedonic Analysis of Feeder Cattle Auction Prices in Northeast Texas," 2017 Annual Meeting, February 4-7, 2017, Mobile, Alabama 252732, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
    14. Pruitt, J. Ross & Gillespie, Jeffrey M. & Nehring, Richard F. & Qushim, Berdikul, 2012. "Adoption of Technology, Management Practices, and Production Systems by U.S. Beef Cow-Calf Producers," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 44(2), pages 203-222, May.
    15. Pruitt, J. Ross & Lacy, R. Curt & Hancock, Dennis W, 2014. "Economic Returns and Risk Analysis of Forage Wrapping Technologies," 2014 Annual Meeting, February 1-4, 2014, Dallas, Texas 162456, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
    16. Gillespie, Jeffrey & Nehring, Richard, 2013. "Comparing economic performance of organic and conventional U.S. beef farms using matching samples," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 57(2), pages 1-15.
    17. James M. MacDonald, 2020. "Tracking the Consolidation of U.S. Agriculture," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 42(3), pages 361-379, September.
    18. Hoppe, Robert A., 2014. "Structure and Finances of U.S. Farms: Family Farm Report, 2014 Edition," Economic Information Bulletin 262118, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    19. Buddhika Patalee & Glynn T. Tonsor, 2021. "Weather effects on U.S. cow‐calf production: A long‐term panel analysis," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 37(4), pages 838-857, October.
    20. Narayanan Kannan & Ali Saleh & Edward Osei, 2016. "Estimation of Energy Consumption and Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Transportation in Beef Cattle Production," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(11), pages 1-22, November.
    21. Qushim, Berdikul & Gillespie, Jeffrey M. & Nehring, Richard F., 2013. "Scale Economies And Economic Performance In Southeastern U.S. Cow-Calf Production," 2013 Annual Meeting, February 2-5, 2013, Orlando, Florida 143009, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
    22. Adkins, Tracey S. & Riley, John Michael & Little, Randall D. & Coatney, Kalyn T., 2012. "Cow-Calf Operations in the Southeastern United States: An Analysis of Farm Characteristics and Production Risks," 2012 Annual Meeting, February 4-7, 2012, Birmingham, Alabama 119757, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
    23. Tang, M. & Thompson, N.M. & Boyer, C.N. & Widmar, N.J.O. & Lusk, J.L., 2023. "Implicit Market Segmentation and Valuation of Angus Bull Attributes," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 48(2), May.

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    Keywords

    Agribusiness; Agricultural and Food Policy; Farm Management; Livestock Production/Industries;
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