Nebraska: The Beef state
Agriculture is the #1 industry in Nebraska and cattle production represents the largest segment of the industry. It's the engine that powers the state’s economy with the beef cattle industry having an unmistakable impact on almost everyone in Nebraska.
nebraska cattle statistics
Nebraska consistently ranks as one of the top cattle producing states in the country.
national cattle statistics
Cattle are raised in every state across the U.S. for consumers all over the world.
Nebraska Is Unique
The importance of cattle feeding to Nebraska’s economy runs deeper than in other states. Nearly 5 million head are finished and marketed in Nebraska, a state with a population of 1.9 million residents. Texas markets a third more cattle than Nebraska, but it has a population of 29 million residents over 15 times larger. Many other states depend on other industries meaning their standard of living isn’t nearly as dependent on cattle feeding as Nebraska’s.
top cow counties in the nation
Nebraska has the top three beef cow counties in the U.S., including the nation’s No. 1 cow county – Cherry County, with nearly 166,000 cows. Custer County is No. 2 (100,000) and Holt County is No. 3 (99,000). Also among the top counties in the nation is Lincoln County at No. 12 (69,000).
More cattle than people
January 2022 figures illustrate that Nebraska continues to have far more cattle than people. The 1.8 million cows combined with the nearly 5 million head that are annually fed in Nebraska total nearly 6.8 million cattle. That's over 3.5 times more cattle than people in Nebraska!
why so much beef?
Nebraska has a unique mix of natural resources. Cattle turn grass from 24 million acres of rangeland and pasture, more than one half of Nebraska’s land mass, into protein and many other products for humans. The land grazed by cattle allows more people to be fed than would otherwise be possible. More than one billion bushels of corn are produced here each year, 40% of which is fed to livestock in the state. Cattle producing families, who make their living from the land, have a strong incentive to protect their animals and the environment.
Nebraska’s Natural Resources
Nebraska’s farms and ranches utilize 45.2 million acres (18,413,270 hectares) – 91% of the state’s total land area.
Nebraska is fortunate to have aquifers below it. If poured over the surface of the state, the water in those aquifers would have a depth of 37.9 feet.
The state has 96,509 registered, active irrigation wells supplying water to 8.3 million acres of harvested cropland and pasture. Nearly 80,000 miles (38,624 kilometers) of rivers and streams add to Nebraska’s bountiful natural resources.
There are nearly 23 million acres (9,307,807 hectares) of rangeland and pastureland in Nebraska – half of which are in the Sandhills.
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