Arkansas Beef Facts

Around 30,000 farms in Arkansas produce beef cattle. The average herd size is 29 head with 67 percent of the farms having fewer than 50 head. About 97 percent of the beef cattle farms are family owned and operated. The total economic impact of the Arkansas beef cattle industry is more than $2 billion.

Arkansas is the 17th largest state in production of cattle in the U.S. with 1.8 million head.
Arkansas raises a total of 927,000 beef cattle and calves.
Arkansas has approximately 35,000 dairy cattle in the state.
There are 30,000 cattle farms with an average size of 29 head.
The top ten counties in beef cattle production are: Washington, Benton, Carroll, Madison, Boone, White, Hempstead, Independence, Logan and Faulkner.
Annual sales of beef cattle and calves in Arkansas is $414,937,000 (2002).
Amount of pasture land in Arkansas is 4,451,573 acres; amount in hay 1,320,000 acres.