FOOD NEWS
The U.S. State That Produces The Most Beef
By Nick Johnson
In 2022, the United States produced 27 billion pounds of beef, per Statista and according to the United States Department of Agriculture's Annual Cattle Review, the total count of beef cattle in the United States was just over 30 million. Texas alone accounted for 15% of that number with 4.5 million beef cows.
According to the Texas Historical Commission, cattle drivers in the region have been around since as early as the 1700s. The Spanish set up a series of missions to keep the French from attempting to claim their territory, and one mission had 4,800 Spanish cattle.
Spaniards transported herds to what is now known as the southern United States to be sold, and there are still remnants of these beef cows today; the Texas longhorn is an ancestor of Spanish cattle. After the American Civil War, Texas became the beef cattle hub it is today, the herds grew and Texas beef was a hot commodity in a post-war nation.