At the Cattle Industry Summer Conference in Denver, cattlemen are discussing how to rebuild the nation’s cow herd.
Beef cow numbers in the U.S. have fallen to their lowest level in more than 50 years. Montana rancher Bill Donald, president elect of NCBA, says a combination of factors has led to the decline.
“Every time we have gotten a signal, a market signal, to rebuild we have had a major drought in some portion of the country and so our cow herds just got shifted around from one region to another rather than expanding like we would have liked and what would have been good for the industry,” said Donald.
Donald says rising land values are also a factor.
“The value of land has gotten high and a lot of people have sold their ranches to people that aren’t necessarily ranchers,” said Donald. “While they might lease out a portion of it or somewhat, their numbers are down from that because there are less resources to utilize.”
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