From the Ground Up: Why cow herds are diminishing

BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) - Texas A&M Extension Economist David Anderson says beef cattle herds have dwindled over the years, and that means more demand with less supply.

“We’ve been shrinking our cow herd,” Anderson said. “When the drought’s over, and we have pasture recovery, and the water tanks and ponds are full, what is our ability to expand the cow herd?”

But the diminishing supply didn’t happen overnight. Years of drought have impacted farmers and ranchers.

“If we went back a decade ago when we had that big drought in Texas, we never got all the beef cows back we had before the drought,” said Anderson.

But the demand for beef hasn’t waned, meaning consumers are seeing prices rise.

“Usually, what the public sees at the grocery store, they don’t think that’s good, because it means ‘there’s high prices!’ We’ve had high prices at the retail counter. That’s because we’ve had some pretty tough times over the past few years which have forced ranchers to cull their herds – to have fewer cows.”

But Anderson remains hopeful. He claims where there’s a shortage, there’s opportunity.

“I’m really an optimist as an economist on where we’re going in the future. I think the stage is set for higher prices. And, we’ve not yet begun to expand our herds! I think there are some real opportunities in the future that we ought to be pretty optimistic about!”

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