Beef Business
Matt director of Woolfolk performance programs
Land of Opportunity Almost all my time looking at a map is for one of two reasons: to figure out the best route to the next cattle event I plan to travel to, or to see how geographically insensible the newest college athletic conferences are after all the shakeups chasing the mighty television dollar. This article looks at the United States map in a slightly different way that is more in line with option 1. I don’t have enough column space for my ranting on the state of college athletics. The map of the United States with the gold-colored states signifies the top ten states for beef cow population in 2021 according to USDA/NASS. There are approximately 31.2 million beef cows currently in this country. The rankings for those states are as follows: 1. Texas 2. Oklahoma 3. Missouri 4. Nebraska 5. South Dakota 6. Kansas 7. Montana 8. Kentucky 9. North Dakota 10. Florida
Those ten states represent the homes of approximately 59% of America’s beef cows. If you look at the top 20 states for beef cows, they make up nearly 82% of the cow population. The states that rank 11 to 20 are largely the Southeast region of the country, with a couple West and Midwest states as well. If you were curious, Rhode Island and Delaware have the lowest numbers of cows on inventory! If you look at those top ten states in terms of their rankings for Shorthorn registrations
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during the last fiscal year, it looks quite a bit different than the national list: 5. Kansas 6. Oklahoma 8. Texas 10. North Dakota 11. South Dakota 12. Missouri 13. Kentucky 15. Nebraska 21. Montana 37. Florida Those ten states account for slightly over 38% of the 15,066 head registered with the American Shorthorn Association in the 202021 fiscal year. If you look at the top 10 states for Shorthorn registrations (the map with the maroon states), they are home to 37.5% of the nation’s cows. Conversely, 2/3 of our Shorthorn registrations come from these ten states. So, what is my purpose for this information? Mostly it’s to bring forth some interesting information that you might not be aware of. I think it shows that our breed is in a unique situation when the core region that houses our Shorthorn cattle doesn’t exactly line up with what’s known as “cow country” in the USA. I don’t believe it is an insurmountable obstacle for the breed’s commercial acceptance to grow. Time and time again, serious cattlemen have shown that if you have the kind of bull they need for their herd, they will travel to buy them. In conversations with some of you, I know that you are already seeing market opportunities in these cattle-rich areas that are far from home. I recently went to a multibreed, non-Shorthorn bull sale where most of the offering sold to ranches over 1,000 miles from the sale site. I realize this sale is far more exception than it is normal, but it does show that, to loosely quote a classic movie, “If you breed it, they will come!” It’s important to identify the characteristics that will meet the needs of the person you’re
shorthorn country = december 2021
wanting to sell cattle to. The cowman in Kentucky or Florida probably isn’t going to want the exact same type of bulls as the cowboys in the Dakotas. It’s also important to realize that not every potential customer needs to turn into a bull buyer. Sometimes your program just isn’t going to fit what they’re looking for and that is fine. It’s better to let them go somewhere else to find cattle that fit than it is to sell them an animal that you know from the start does not work with what they are looking for. Breed cattle that you like that work and largely appeal to your customer base, and then go above and beyond to take care of them with service before and after the sale.
I respect that the ideas laid out in this article do not appeal or apply to many of you who take the time to read it. In the 202021 fiscal year, 87.5% of the members that registered a calf with ASA registered 10 head or less, and almost 95% registered 20 head or less. Only thirty-four breeders registered more than 50 head. The average number registered per member for the breed this past fiscal year was 6.2 head. Maybe selling bulls into regions several miles from home is not on your radar but breeding quality cattle that satisfy your customers should always be on your mind if you have 1 head or 1,000. I hope all of you have a Merry Christmas season with your loved ones celebrating the best reason we have to celebrate. Enjoy a little time to slow down, eat beef and relax heading into 2022. It won’t be long that we will all be fired back up and going full speed again in the new year! =
