June 29, 2006

Virginia’s beef cow herd at record level

RICHMOND—For the first time ever, more than three-quarters of a million cows are residing in the state. Experts say their record numbers paint a rosy picture for the state’s beef industry.

The latest U.S. Cattle Inventory Report estimates the number of beef cows that have calved in Virginia at 747,000, the highest inventory ever recorded for the commonwealth, and the most since 740,000 head were counted in 1997.

The cow/calf enterprise can be described as cattle operators who own breeding females and bulls and raise the resulting calves to about 600 pounds. Most of Virginia’s feeder cattle are shipped to other states with lower grain costs for the final production phase before being harvested.

“The growth in the cow herd is not surprising, given the record level for feeder calf prices in recent years,” said Tony Banks, Virginia Farm Bureau Federation commodity expert. “The beef cow/calf sector tends to go through a 10-year cycle of herd expansion and reduction. We have also seen numbers of beef cow herds expand in traditional tobacco-growing regions of the state.”

Virginia’s high-quality pastures allow many operators to carry a cow and her calf on 2 to 3 acres while ranchers in some drier Western states might need 50 or more acres to maintain a cow. Virginia’s producers also use forage management techniques like rotational grazing to enhance the productivity of their pastures.

There are an estimated 22,000 farms with beef cows in Virginia. The top five beef cow counties are Augusta, Rockingham, Bedford, Fauquier and Washington. Virginia’s herd numbers are ahead of several Western states, including California, Colorado, New Mexico and Oregon. The commonwealth currently ranks 15th nationwide for beef cows.

Beef breeds raised in the state include Angus, Charolais, Hereford, Simmental and crosses of those breeds and others.

Contact Banks at 804-290-1114 or Sherri McKinney, VFBF video producer, at 804-290-1148.