Beef cow-calf ranches—operations that raise beef calves at least through weaning—are numerous in the U.S. and most are relatively small.
Data from the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service’s 2022 Census of Agriculture indicated that 55% of U.S. ranches with beef cows had fewer than 20 beef cows on Dec. 31, 2022, while less than 1% had 1,000 or more beef cows.
Ranches with fewer than 20 beef cows held 9% of the national inventory of cows, and those with 1,000 cows or more held 10% of the inventory. Ranches with 200 to 999 beef cows held 35% of the inventory. With a total of 29.2 million beef cows on 622,000 ranches on Dec. 31, 2022, the average beef farm had 47 cows.— USDA Economic Research Service
