Historic drought conditions took a toll on the Texas cow herd in 2011 as more than 150,000 head left the state for greener pastures – three times more than the 45,000 recorded in 2010, according to a Texas AgriLife Extension Service economist.

Dr. David Anderson, AgriLife Extension livestock marketing economist in College Station, cited Texas Animal Health Commission out shipment data, which is the number of animals receiving veterinary inspection certificates prior to interstate movement.

"Out shipments are cattle moving out of state from Texas and they might also be called Texas’ cattle exports to other states," he said. "Reported out shipments rose dramatically above 2010 in August-October. Total cattle reported shipped out of state in 2011 was 1.113 million head, 287,000 more than in 2010."

Nationally, beef cattle numbers continue to decline to historic levels. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported Jan. 1 cattle inventory for all cattle and calves totaled 90.8 million head, 2 percent below the 92.7 million on Jan. 1, 2011. It is the lowest Jan. 1 inventory of all cattle and calves since the 88.1 million on hand in 1952, according to USDA.

Texas, the nation’s largest beef cow producing state, saw a decline in 2011, in the number of beef cows of 660,000, to 4.365 million head.

"That’s the smallest cow herd since 1960," Anderson said. "This decline was fueled by the drought, which left 2011 as the record holding driest year on record in Texas."

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