New Mexico is 24 largest beef producing State.

Considering our drought and the reduction in number of cattle in Eddy County (60%) it is great that we are the 24 largest producing state. When I was in college xx years ago Florida dominated the beef market. Now it is the mid west. Texas has the most beef cows in the United States followed by Oklahoma & Missouri. Texas has more beef cows than Missouri and Oklahoma combined. Texas has more than 14% of the beef cows in the United States. Eight (8) states have more than 1 million beef cows. The top 10 states with the most beef cows account for nearly 58% of the inventory in the United States. United States 29,693,100 Rank State 2015 % Of U.S. 1 Texas 4,180,000 14.08% 2 Oklahoma 1,900,000 6.40% 3 Missouri 1,881,000 6.33% 4 Nebraska 1,786,000 6.01% 5 South Dakota 1,632,000 5.50% 6 Montana 1,506,000 5.07% 7 Kansas 1,477,000 4.97% 8 Kentucky 1,007,000 3.39% 9 Iowa 920,000 3.10% 10 Florida 916,000 3.08% 11 North Dakota 904,000 3.04% 12 Tennessee 883,000 2.97% 13 Arkansas 863,000 2.91% 14 Colorado 745,000 2.51% 15 Wyoming 694,000 2.34% 16 Alabama 672,000 2.26% 17 Virginia 637,000 2.15% 18 California 600,000 2.02% 19 Oregon 525,000 1.77% 20 Georgia 489,000 1.65% 21 Idaho 481,000 1.62% 22 Mississippi 468,000 1.58% 23 Louisiana 466,000 1.57% 24 New Mexico 407,000 1.37% 25 Illinois 376,000 1.27% 26 North Carolina 363,000 1.22% 27 Minnesota 350,000 1.18% 28 Utah 324,000 1.09% 29 Ohio 282,000 0.95% 30 Wisconsin 275,000 0.93% 31 Nevada 217,000 0.73% 32 Indiana 199,000 0.67% 33 Washington 198,000 0.67% 34 West Virginia 185,000 0.62% 35 Arizona 175,000 0.59% 36 South Carolina 170,000 0.57% 37 Pennsylvania 150,000 0.51% 38 New York 115,000 0.39% 39 Michigan 112,000 0.38% 40 Hawaii 69,800 0.24% 41 Maryland 41,000 0.14% 42 Vermont 12,000 0.04% 43 Maine 11,000 0.04% 44 New Jersey 7,500 0.03% 45 Massachusetts 5,500 0.02% 46 Connecticut 5,000 0.02% 47 Alaska 4,300 0.01% 48 New Hampshire 3,000 0.01% 49 Delaware 2,500 0.01% 50 Rhode Island 1,500 0.01% Source: NASS/USDA (head)