Skip to main content
You have permission to edit this article.
Edit
featured

USA has smallest beef herd in 60 years

Drought, high feed costs led to record culling of cattle in 2022

  • Updated
  • 0
USA has smallest beef herd in 60 years COVER .jpg

Several consecutive years of drought have prompted ranchers to reduce the number of cattle they run on their ranches and summer pastures which has let to the smallest beef herd in the US in the past 60 years. Pioneer file photo by Mark Watson

EDITOR’S NOTE: South Dakota has more than three times as many cattle as people, with an estimated human population of around 914,000. Nine states — Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Wyoming — have more cows than people, and South Dakota has the highest ratio of cows to humans. May is National Beef Month, and it’s also celebrated in South Dakota. Gov. Kristi Noem signed a proclamation on April 26 designating the month. The Hamlin County farmer and rancher also told an assembled group of South Dakota Junior Beef Ambassadors that all South Dakotans are required to eat a double cheeseburger every day in May.

The Black Hills Pioneer won’t hold you to that beefy standard, but we have prepared a menu of meaty stories on the beef cattle industry. This is the first of a three-part series

USA has smallest beef herd in 60 years 2.jpg

Local ranchers are hopeful that feed prices will stabilize allowing producers to rebuild their herds. Pioneer file photo by Mark Watson

USA has smallest beef herd in 60 years

Warren Rusche

Heather Gessner.jpg
0
0
0
0
0

(0) comments

Welcome to the discussion.

Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.