Cattle and beef are bread and butter in Texas along with being a backbone for our country's economy as the Lone Star State produces more beef than any other state in the U.S.
The beef industry is the only sector of agriculture turning a profit and barely breaking even right now, according to Texas' Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller.
While that is good in some aspects, hold your horses because for us shoppers looking to feed our families, we are not getting a break at the grocery store as lower inventory meets higher costs to run a ranch and get that beef to you.
"Short term, I said we're making money. Long term, it's bad for the cattle industry because per capita consumption of beef will go down as they look for other cheaper protein sources," Miller said.
"We have to earn that per capita share back and that's hard to do once somebody gets use to eating something besides beef."
Multiply factors have cut cattle numbers such as droughts and new urban developments, experts told 25 News.
Miller said normally the state has around 12 to 13 million head of cattle — he said, right now we're at an all time low with just under 11 million head of cattle in Texas — he also around 35,000 head of cattle was lost earlier this year in the panhandle fires.
A USDA report from earlier this year stated there is just over 87 million head of cattle and calves in the U.S. — that's down 2 percent from last year.
According to the report, beef and veal rose 4.2 percent when comparing August 2024 numbers to August 2023 numbers.
Also, uncooked ground beef went up by 4.9 percent.
To learn more about the cattle and beef industry in Central Texas, 25News Bobby Poitevint reached out to a contact of in Oglesby, Blayr Barnard.
She is the president and owner of Bernard Beef and Cattle Company.
The ranch has been in operation for roughly 100 years — she said they run about 17,000 head of cattle a year.
Blayr said beef has been great to them and the company has been very profitable in recent years.
"I think the beef prices will go up a little bit and then I'll think they'll have to start coming down but it really all depends on the economy, the election, imports and exports," Blayr said.
"It's a multi-faceted issue to say the least."
