The U.S. Faces A “Historic” Cattle Shortage

A multi-year cattle shortage has pushed the price of beef into very painful territory. In fact, in some areas of the country the price of ground beef now exceeds the federal minimum wage. This is the first time in U.S. history that this has ever happened. At the start of 2026, there were only 86.2 million head of cattle and calves in the United States. 

That is the smallest the national herd has been since 1951. Just think about that for a moment. This is an enormous problem because in 1951 there were 154 million people living in this nation, but there are 342 million people living in this nation today.

We are being told that we are facing a “historic” cattle shortage, and it is causing some of the biggest meatpackers in the country to shut down facilities…

America’s ranchers are facing their smallest cattle herd in 75 years, a shortage now rippling from pastures to some of the nation’s largest meatpackers.

Tyson Foods announced last week that it will close beef facilities in Illinois and Utah and pursue the sale of another in Washington as it reshapes its beef business amid what the company called one of the most historic cattle shortages the country has ever experienced. Tyson said recent USDA data suggest supply constraints are likely to persist.

This is a major national crisis.

According to the USDA, the size of the U.S. cattle herd has fallen by 8 million just since 2019…

USDA data shows the U.S. entered 2026 with about 86.2 million cattle and calves, the smallest herd since the early 1950s. That’s down from roughly 94.7 million cattle and calves in 2019, a decline of more than 8 million animals.

This is another instance where the trend is not our friend.

So why is this happening?

The answer to that question is very clear.

Ranchers throughout the middle of the nation have been dealing with severe drought…

“The biggest thing has been drought,” Eric Belasco, head of the agricultural economics department at Montana State University, previously told Fox News Digital.

He said years of dry weather have depleted grasslands across the West and Plains, leaving ranchers without enough feed or water to sustain their herds. Many have been forced to sell cattle early, including cows needed to produce the next generation of calves, making the road to recovery even longer.

This isn’t a new phenomenon.

In fact, according to Wikipedia a multi-decade drought in the Southwest actually began in the year 2000…

The southwestern North American megadrought is a multidecadal drought in the southwestern region of North America that began in 2000. The 2000-2021 period was the driest 22-year period the region had experienced since at least 800 AD. The megadrought contributed to the first-ever declaration of a water shortage at Lake Mead, one of the two largest reservoirs in the United States by storage capacity. Climate models project increased drought risk and drier soil-moisture conditions in the region through the end of the 21st century.

There had been hope that perhaps the region may be pulling out the megadrought, but then last winter was the driest winter that many areas of the Southwest have experienced in recorded history.

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