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Did you know?
Facts about the U.S. and
Colorado beef industry
According to the
National Cattlemen’s Beef Association...
- Agriculture is a significant segment of the
U.S. economy, responsible for 2.5 percent of our Gross Domestic Product
(GDP) — but employing only 1.6 percent of the U.S. population.(1)
- The largest single segment of the U.S.
agricultural economy is beef production, with cattle representing about 18
percent of total farm sales.(2)
- In the 1990s, U.S. beef production has
generated more than $30 billion annually in direct economic output, plus
three times that much per year in related economic output.
- Agriculture is responsible for more than 22
million jobs — everything from growing the food to selling it in the
supermarket, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation. Beef
production itself is a major employer, with the more than 186,000 full-time
jobs on farms and ranches creating more than 1 million more jobs throughout
the economy.
- Beef is consumed 77.8 million times each day
across America. And, about 9 in 10 households will serve in a two week
period. That percentage has remained fairly stable over the past decade.(3)
- Seventy percent of all beef (by volume) is
sold from the retail meat case. But the value of food is increasingly found
away-from-home. In 1972, 62 percent of the consumer’s food dollar was spent
in the grocery store, with 38 percent spent away from home. By 1997, 52
percent of food expenditures were away from home, with 48 percent from
retail stores, according to Technomic, Inc.
- There were 7 billion beef servings in
commercial restaurants in 1997 — up 1.4 percent from 1995. And, nearly every
restaurant (97 percent) has some kind of beef on the menu.(4)
- Beef exports, which in 1998 exceeded 1 million
metric tons, continue to defray the nation’s trade imbalance with other
countries, reports the U.S. Meat Export Federation, 1999.
- Throughout the U.S., 80 percent of cattle
businesses have been in the same family for more than 25 years, and 10
percent for more than 100 years.
- Conservation practices employed by cattlemen
have resulted in improved pasture and grazing land conditions on 64 percent
of cattle operations in the past 10 years.
- 800 million acres of land in the U.S. is
grazing land.
For more information visit the NCBA's
Cattle and Beef Handbook.
According to the
Colorado Agricultural Statistics Service
(2003 statistics), in Colorado...
- There are 30,000 farms and ranches.
- Nearly half of Colorado’s 66.3 million acres
are farms and ranches (31.3 million acres).
- Cash receipts from the sale of cattle and
calves at $2.6 billion represents 55% of the gross farm income of $4.7
billion -- representing the state’s single largest commodity.
- There are more than 3.65 million head of
cattle and more than 10,500 beef producers.
- Nationwide, Colorado ranks 4th in
cattle on feed and 10th in overall cattle numbers.
- Nearly one-third of Colorado counties are
classified as either economically dependent on the cattle industry or the
cattle industry serves an important role in their economies.
- In Colorado, 61 percent of land utilized for
farming and ranching is pasture and range land. (According to 1997 Colorado
Agricultural Statistics Service)
- Colorado farmers and ranchers had 2.65 million
head of all cattle and calves on hand as of January 1, 2003, down 13 percent
from 3.05 million on hand one year earlier to the lowest inventory since
1987.
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