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Beef Cattle Ranching Industry Profile Excerpt
| SIC Codes: 0211, 0212 NAICS Codes: 11211 Page Length: 10-12 Last Quarterly Update: 1/5/2009 View Sample Industry Profile |
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The US beef ranching industry includes about 750,000 operators with combined annual revenue of $50 billion. Only about 5,000 operations have more than 500 head of cattle. The industry is highly fragmented: the 50 largest operators hold less than 2 percent of the market.
COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE
Demand is driven by food prices, population growth, and global trade policies. The profitability of individual operations depends on production efficiency and anticipating market demand. Large operators have some advantages in volume purchasing and efficient use of labor. Small operators can compete successfully by producing special grades of beef cattle and by using "family" labor.
PRODUCTS, OPERATIONS & TECHNOLOGY
Major products are beef cattle and calves ready to be slaughtered or ready for "finishing" in feedlots. Annual US sales of beef animals include about 45 million cattle and 10 million calves.
The operations of beef ranchers revolve around breeding cows, feeding cattle, and providing veterinary care. Beef cattle ranchers mainly breed their own animals, with a traditional calving season in the early spring. Cows can produce one calf per year and are either naturally bred by a bull or artificially inseminated by a technician. Beef cows have a nine month gestation period. From birth until weaning, calves depend on their mother's milk and forage resources. Calves are typically weaned when they weigh between 400 and 600 pounds and are either retained by the rancher or sold. Weaned calves either go directly to the ...
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