Where is U.S. Beef Coming from?

Beef production in United States is a huge business with a long history going back to the conquest of the Wild West and farmers and ranchers settlements on the East Coast and later in the Midwest of the United States.  As population grew, production of crops and beef increased.  Location of the major beef production areas also changed.

Over time, an American beef production model got formed.  It is somewhat different from the European one in terms of scale and production practices.  The specialization of farmers has increased greatly in recent decades.  Some American farmers concentrated on feed crop production, others on raising calves.  Large corporations and cooperatives have also entered the business, many of which own feedlots and slaughterhouses equipped with the latest technology.  Although it is possible to identify several states where beef production takes place, almost all states are involved in the cattle raising and feeding process.

Here is a map showing beef cows spatial distribution in USA. Each dot on it represents 2,500 animals.  As of July 2020, there were 31.2 million beef cows in the United States.  For comparison, in Ukraine there were only 468 thousand cows of meat and mixed (milk and meat) purposes in the beginning of 2019.

Source: US Department of Agriculture National Statistics Service

The vast majority of beef cows is kept in Midwest prairies states.  Like many years ago, the Great Plains remain the fiefdom of American cattlemen and ranchers.  Calves that eventually arrive to feedlots of the southern United States are raised on small Midwest farms. These states are Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota, Kansas, and Montana.  Almost 50% of all America’s beef cows reside in those states.  Production in Kentucky, Tennessee and Florida is also significant, but cannot be compared to the Midwest.

This production pattern is related to the availability of cattle feed.  In the US, these are corn, soybeans, wheat, and sorghum. The calves are grown on natural grasslands with concentrated feed as supplements.

Grazing livestock and the cowboy spirit that surrounded this work eventually stepped back under the onslaught of the market forces.  American consumers preferred tender meat with thin layers of intermuscular fat, reminiscent of pink marble.  It was impossible to get marble meat from grazing cattle. Grazing on low-calorie grasses could not provide meat  of needed quality.  A new production stage was introduced: finishing feeding of livestock with concentrated feed (the diet is bases on high-quality corn).  This final touch allowed for production of top-quality beef which made this product the hallmark of the United States all over the world.

When finishing feeding was introduced, calves began to get gathered in large feedlots.  Slaughterhouses and meat processing plants grew around them. Over time, feedlot size grew to an enormous scale.

Source: US Department of Agriculture National Statistics Service

Over 7.5 million head of feed cattle are concentrated in Texas, Nebraska and Kansas alone.  Although Midwest states has a strong lead and continues to build up livestock population, California and Washington state are catching up with competitors.

The answer to the question is simple:  the steak on your plate came from the cattle farms of Midwest and South of the United States, but the calves and feed for steers could have come from almost any American state. It is truly, an all-American product in the broadest sense of these words!

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