7.1.10.1Vertical

Beef Cattle Operations

Cow-calf and backgrounding operations raising beef cattle.

Market snapshot

These figures describe Livestock & Animal Agriculture (7.1.10), the segment that Beef Cattle Operations sits within. They are not figures for Beef Cattle Operations on its own.

Growth
N/A
Companies
~433 firms
Firms by employee count

96.5% of firms have fewer than 20 employees: 415 micro-businesses, below most mandates.

The investable universe15 firms with 20+ employees
20–99
15100%
100–499
00%
500+
00%

Animal production is surveyed with agriculture rather than with industry, so no revenue figure exists on a comparable basis and no five-year trend can be drawn. The firm count is real and is the useful number here: it shows an ownership base still measured in family operations, even as feeding and processing capacity above it has consolidated into very few hands.

NAICS 112111, 112112, 112120, 112130, 112210, 112310, 112320, 112330, 112340, 112390, 112410, 112420, 112910, 112920, 112930, 112990, 114210. U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Statistics of U.S. Businesses.

Business model & economics

Revenue model

Livestock, dairy, poultry, and egg sales

Key economics

Employees per firm
4.4
Recurring revenue
Low–Moderate

production cycles; recurring dairy/eggs

EBITDA margin
Cyclical with feed and animal prices
Capex intensity
High

Characteristics

  • Thin strategic-buyer pool: only 0 firms exceed 500 employees, so exits skew sponsor-to-sponsor
  • Cow-calf, feedlots, and integrated poultry/hog systems.
  • Vertical integration defining in poultry and pork.
  • Feed costs and disease management key drivers.

NAICS 112111, 112112, 112120, 112130, 112210, 112310, 112320, 112330, 112340, 112390, 112410, 112420, 112910, 112920, 112930, 112990, 114210. U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Statistics of U.S. Businesses.

M&A deal context

Deal activityModerate

Who’s acquiring

  • Integrated protein producers
  • Consolidating operations
  • Agribusiness & investor buyers

What’s driving deals

  • Vertical integration and consolidation.
  • Protein-demand and export growth.
  • Feed-cost and disease-management dynamics.

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