There are more than 800,000 individual farms and ranches that produce beef in the United States. With over 100,000,000 head of cattle, the US cattle inventory comprises 10% of the world’s cattle inventory, yet we produce nearly 25% of the worlds beef supply. Cattle are produced in all 50 states and represents over 60 billion dollars to the economy. There are 1.4 million jobs attributed to the American beef industry. Cattle production represents the largest single segment of American agriculture. Cattle are not native to America; Europeans imported it. All cattle can trace their origin back to the auroch, but the first signs of domestication date back to 6500 B.C. in the Middle East. Early cattle were used as labor as well as food source. Labor cattle were known as oxen. Over time cattle breeding for the sole purpose of meat or milk production evolved. It wasn’t until approximately 1870 that Americans became large consumers of beef. It was then that the enormous growth of the cattle industry in the west occurred. The exploration of one of the most important industries in America must begin in Texas.

. The Texas Longhorn is one of the most identifiable images of the Wild West. The breed was a cross between longhorn cattle brought to North America by the Spanish in 1493 and Northern European breeds brought to Texas by the first Anglo American settlers. The climate and range conditions of Texas made it ideal for the herds to multiply substantially. By the end of the civil war it was estimated that there were approximately 5,000,000 longhorns in Texas. They had adapted to be able to survive blizzards, droughts and storms. They did not need much water to thrive. Their toughness and endurance made them uniquely able to survive the rigors of a long trail drive. The abundance of cattle in Texas at the end of the civil war depressed the western cattle market, but prices were still high in the north and east. Even though cattle had been driving out of Texas to California, Louisiana and Missouri since 1836, it was after the civil war that cattle began flowing along the Chisholm, Loving-Goodnight, and Dodge City trails (http://www.thechisholmtrail.com/index.htm) until the market was sated and the ranges of the central and Northern plains were stocked. In 1867 the Kansas Pacific Railroad reached Abilene Texas, establishing a gateway for Texas trail herds to reach eastern consumer markets. In 1878, Gustav Swift, a meat packer, perfected the first refrigerated rail car, and the boom began. According to Cyber Space Farms (http://ctberspaceag.com/farmanimals/beefcattle/beefhistory.htm) the Longhorn era ended with the fencing of the open ranges and cattle with early maturation characteristics were imported. The most significant import was probably the Hereford. First brought to the States by Henry Clay, in 1817, the first breeding herd was established in 1840 by William H Sothman and Erastus Corning of Albany, New York. The Hereford proved to get fat at an early age. These traits revolutionized American cattle farming. Breeding became more and more important as cattle farming became the powerhouse industry it is today. Maturity, marbling and palatability are three of the most important indicators of high quality beef, and most breeding programs are focused on developing characteristics that ensure weight gain at an early age, hence the Hereford remains one of the most dominant breeds today. (link) (http://www.bovinebazaar.com/history.htm)