27,243,000,000 pounds. Yes, you read correctly, 27.2 billion pounds. That is how much beef American cattle farmers and ranchers produced last year. The average American will consume roughly 58.1 lbs. of beef in over the course of a year.
What does this mean to us here in Greenbrier County? Well, it means a lot actually.
Greenbrier County is the state leader in beef production in the Mountain State. This is a statistic to be proud of. Here is a quick look at the numbers based off United States Department of Agriculture and West Virginia Department of Agriculture’s latest reports.
Here are the stats: There are 505 beef cattle farms on 108,000 Greenbrier County acres. 38,000 head of cattle roam our hills and valleys. Approximately 18,000 calves born here each year, of which roughly 15,750 of those go on to be finished in feed yards across the country, yielding 7.8 million pounds of retail product. That feeds 135,775 Americans for a year. It is this industry that brings home nearly $27,000,000 per year in sales. These numbers alone are a testament that the beef industry is a big deal here in Greenbrier County. The economic contributions to the local commerce coupled with cattle’s environmental compatibility with our topography makes cattle worthy of our attention in southeast West Virginia.
So next time when you get stuck behind a tractor, slow down and take a deep breath. That same scene is being replicated in small towns across the country as farmers and ranchers work hard to produce a product that is the best in the world. Greenbrier County is a worthy little piece of the bigger picture of the American beef industry.
For more information, please call Josh Peplowski at 304-647-7408.