The fallout as Ranchers are retiring in record numbers, leading to the largest land ownership transfer in U.S. history - Email 2
posted on
November 26, 2025
Email 2 Ranchers are retiring in record numbers, leading to the largest land ownership transfer in U.S. history
This is the 2nd email of the start of an email series nobody should ignore:
To the Families We Serve,
This week, I want to continue our series on why beef prices are rising — and what’s really happening behind the scenes that impacts people like yourself and family ranches and neighboring ranches like ours. Across the U.S., ranchers are retiring in record numbers. In fact, we’re seeing what may become the largest land ownership transfer in American history. This isn’t just about numbers — it’s about people, legacy, and the land that’s fed our country for generations.
The reality is simple: a lot of the men and women who built this industry are now in their 70s and 80s. They’ve worked hard their whole lives, and they deserve to slow down. But there aren’t enough young ranchers stepping in to fill their boots. And with land prices at historic highs, most families — ours included — can’t afford to buy the ground that’s coming up for sale. That’s where things start to shift. Ranching & Farming Land that’s been in families for decades is now being purchased by investment firms or absentee owners who often live hundreds of miles away. "When the people who work the land no longer live on it, something fundamental gets lost." Or, worse, when land that has for generations been dedicated for ranching and farming is converted into condominium and housing use, we fail to remember that the people residing in these units will still need to be fed! |
But the land story is only half of it. The other half is the cattle themselves. Even as ownership changes hands, cattle numbers across the country are dropping fast. From as early as the 1960s and the decades that followed a “get big or get out” thinking reshaped the paradigm of how animals were bred. "It's a slippery slope when genetics do not focus on the fertility of cattle, but on the size of the calf they can produce. It then causes cattle to be big, fat, but their fertility plummets." Simply put, the focus moved from fertility and resilience to how quickly cattle could gain weight in feedlots- ignoring the importance of retention. Those genetic choices create cattle that don’t breed as easily, don’t adapt as well to pasture life, and simply aren’t built to thrive on open range anymore, especially impacting ranchers and farmers who breed cattle in the high desert. |
While we still raise cattle that graze year-round and breed naturally, that’s becoming increasingly rare.
More tragically, across the industry, heifers that used to be kept for breeding are being sold off for slaughter instead. When you start selling your females, you’re essentially selling your future herd. It’s a slow unraveling that can take years to rebuild — if it’s ever rebuilt at all.
So when people ask, “Why are cattle prices going up?” the first takeaway from this email is an answer that is layered:
- A generation of ranchers is ready to retire.
- Land prices are too high for young ranchers to step in.
- Cattle genetics focused on the wrong traits.
- Fewer heifers were kept to rebuild herds.
It’s a perfect storm that’s been decades in the making — and it’s catching up fast.
At Cunningham Pastured Meats, we’re choosing a different path. We’re not raising prices in 2025 because we believe you deserve Food You Can Trust, even when the market says otherwise. We’ll keep raising our cattle on open pastures, the way nature intended, and keep telling the truth about what’s really happening out here.
If this conversation stirs something in you, stay tuned for next week’s email — we’ll talk about how border closures to cattle and the lowest cattle numbers since the 1940s, and the insurgency are further tightening the supply chain.
Food isn’t just about what’s on your plate — it’s about who’s raising it, and what kind of future we want to build together.
Take me to Email 3: The threat of screwworm, fewer cattle, and land changes are all part of a bigger story
