Moo…

By just one place, New Mexico missed being in the top ten among states of something I never quite thought about.

While browsing the internet this morning, this surprising statistic showed up unexpectedly on Instagram.

So according to this non-sourced post on Instagram, New Mexico is 11th in the nation for the number of cattle in the state. According to statistics from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, there are approximately 1.28 million cattle in the Land of Enchantment. Below is the information straight from the USDA website as of January 2005.

Livestock Inventory New Mexico

Cattle, Cows, Beef – Inventory ( First of Jan. 2025 )	450,000
Cattle, Cows, Milk – Inventory ( First of Jan. 2025 )	240,000
Cattle, Incl Calves – Inventory ( First of Jan. 2025 )	1,280,000

I was really surprised that we had more cattle than Texas. But having experienced numerous trips through Nebraska to visit my wife’s family farm while passing seemingly endless odiferous feedlots, I was not at all surprised that Nebraska was ranked #2 in number of cows.

At least at this point, bovines don’t appear to outnumber humans in our state, as is apparently the case in South Dakota. According to the latest U.S. Census Bureau data, New Mexico’s population is estimated at 2.13 million. That means there is one cow for every 1.6 persons. Luckily, my cow quota is in a feedlot or dairy farm miles south of where we live, although I’m occasionally reminded of their presence when we get a southerly breeze.

And although I have no way of verifying this, I do suspect that there are more jackrabbits in New Mexico than there are humans. A drive along one of our less traveled rural roads will confirm large numbers of squashed bunnies and confirm my suspicion that there are lots more out there who had enough sense to stay off the roadway when a vehicle is approaching.