Where is The Largest Cattle Farm in the United States?
Where is The Largest Cattle Farm in the United States? The largest cattle farm in terms of size is King Ranch, situated in South-eastern Texas. The King Ranch is so massive it spans over 825,000 acres. It was established by Richard King, a steamboat captain born in 1825 in Orange County.
The good stuff about ranches
Ranches are more than just farms to raise livestock. They are picturesque landscapes for hunting, hiking and camping. Some of them are so large that they have their own freshwater supplies from streams or rivers and adequate grass for cattle and sheep grazing.
One of the most wonderful things about ranches is that they give free-range to livestock, allowing them to graze, express their instincts and live freely, unlike in intensive livestock farming methods.
Ranches not only raise livestock for commercial purposes, but they also preserve and protect many other species of wild animals. Many ranchers also raise elks, alpacas, ostriches, deer and other animals along with livestock.
Ranches are not just farms. A farm has to have at least 100 acres for it to be called a ranch. Please read this article for how many acres are required to be considered a ranch.
Ranches focus not only on raising livestock, but most of them are so vast and beautiful that they are popular tourist attractions. ‘Dude ranches’ offer horseback riding, trail rides or hunting for tourists.
Here are some of the largest ranches in the United States.
The biggest ranches in the United States
King Ranch
King Ranch is the biggest ranch in the United States, spanning over 825,000 acres. However, it’s not one big stretch of land. It’s split into four different sections.
It’s located in South Texas between Brownsville and Corpus Christi. It has a variety of business operations, from cattle to racehorses. Some parts of the ranch are used to grow sugar cane, sweet corn, green bean, citrus, cotton and lettuce. King ranch is known as the birthplace of ranching in North America.
Waggoner Ranch
This ranch is also situated in Texas, but unlike King Ranch, the whole property is under one fence. The Waggoner ranch is 535,000 acres that, stretches to six counties and is half the size of Rhode Island. The headquarters of the ranch is located in Vernon, Texas.
The Waggoner Ranch has livestock ranching, oil and agricultural preservation. This ranch was established by Daniel Waggoner in 1852. It was later bought by billionaire Stan Kroenke in 2016.
Vermejo Park Ranch
This ranch is a beautiful property located in southern Colorado to northern New Mexico. The Vermejo Park Ranch is a tourist attraction owned by Ted Turner. It is open to the public and has exclusive lodges, cottages and mansions. Activities for guests include hunting, fishing and natural gas collection.
The site is primarily used for conservation research and ecosystem restoration. They also host workshops, tours, and even seasonal festivals.
Deseret Ranches
The Deseret ranch is owned by the Mormon Church. It is 300,000 acres large. This ranch is the largest cattle-producing ranch in the United States, as it has more than 44,000 heads of cattle.
The ranch spreads over three counties in Florida. Ninety ranchers and their families live and work on the ranch. The estimated revenue of the ranch surpasses $16 million.
Where is The Largest Cattle Farm in the United States? Summary
The largest cattle farm in the U.S. is the King Ranch which is situated in Texas. The largest cattle farm in terms of cattle production is the Deseret Ranch which is situated in Florida. It has over 44,000 heads of cattle.
*All pics are taken from Unsplash.com
