SNAPSHOT.

Where's the beef? On about 31,000 Tar Heel farms, which raised more than 800,000 cattle in 1998. The state rounded up $154 million in cattle cash receipts.

                               NATIONAL RANK
               North Carolina's herd accounts for less than
                1% of the nation's 91 million beef cattle.
 1. Texas          14,130,000
 2. Nebraska        6,580,000
 3. Kansas          6,471,000
 4. Oklahoma        5,309,000
 5. Missouri        4,175,000
 6. South Dakota    3,599,000
 7. California      3,500,000
 8. Iowa            3,475,000
 9. Colorado        3,166,000
10. Montana         2,582,000
30. North Carolina    882,000
Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1998
                              HOW BEEF RANKS
               In 1998, beef cattle contributed 2.1% of the
            state's $7.2 billion in commodities cash receipts.
                       Cash receipts
                       (in millions)
 1. Broilers                $1,419.0
 2. Hogs                     1,323.0
 3. Tobacco                    998.0
 4. Greenhouse/nursery         958.0
 5. Turkeys                    470.0
 6. Cotton                     344.0
 7. Soybeans                   213.0
 8. Dairy products             209.0
 9. Chicken eggs               189.0
10. Cattle and calves          154.0
Source: N.C. Department of Agriculture, 1998
                               TOP COUNTIES
              Beef cattle [*]
 1. Randolph    17,700
 2. Chatham     16,100
 3. Wilkes      16,000
 4. Iredell     16,000
 5. Cleveland   15,000
 6. Union       13,400
 7. Rowan       12,200
 8. Stanly      11,900
 9. Surry       10,500
10. Yadkin      10,000
(*.)number, excluding calves, as of Jan. 1
Source: N.C. Department of Agriculture,1999

TIDBITS 

* Most Tar Heel farmers raising beef cattle have 50 or fewer head. Only 20 farms statewide have more than 1,000.

* Tar Heel calves are sold at market when they weigh 400 to 600 pounds. In 1998, they fetched $72.40 per 100 pounds, 45% more than adult beef cattle.

* Of the nation's 872,840 cattle farms in 1997, North Carolina ranked sixth with 31,000 -- 2.8%. Texas was No. 1, with 133,000, followed by Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Kentucky.

* The Fuquay-Varina-based North Carolina Cattlemen's Association was founded in 1955. It now has 3,700 members.

* In North Carolina, people outnumber beef cows eight to one.

* Of the state's 88 meat-packing facilities, 62 handle beef.

* Angus, Simmental and Hereford are the most common beef-cattle breeds in North Carolina.