Size and Distribution of Beef Cow Herds

The majority of beef cow herds are small. Average herd size in the U. S. is 41.6 cows. (Connecticut has the lowest at 7.5 cows/herd, Nevada the largest at 175, Texas averages 41.2) Over 78% of herds have less than 50 cows, and less than 1% have over 500 cows. However, herds of less than 50 head have only about 29% of the total cows, and herds over 500 head have almost 15 % of the cows. These distributions have not changed much over the years and, barring unforeseen drastic economic changes, probably will not.
(USDA - National Agricultural Statistics Service - Report on Livestock Operations, April, 2004)