Here's Where America's Meat Comes From
The USDA's Census of Agriculture program periodically tracks the characteristics of farms in the US. Using data from the most recent census in 2012, the USDA produced a series of maps illustrating where America's livestock live. Business Insider first saw these maps on the Twitter timeline of the Washington Post's Christopher Ingraham.
The maps use dots to show the distribution of different types of livestock. Each dot represents some particular number of animals, as noted on each map. The dots don't show the exact location of the animals, but are instead randomly placed within their home county.
Cattle are pretty widespread across the US, with a particularly high concentration in the central Great Plains:
Meanwhile, chickens are highly concentrated in the Southeast:
Horses are fairly common in all parts of the US, but especially popular in central Kentucky, central Florida, and eastern Texas and Oklahoma:
Sheep are rare in the Southeast, but popular in northern climates, central California, and central Texas:
Finally, goats are most common in the eastern half of the country, with a big goat area in the same west-central Texas area where sheep were popular in the last map: