Excerpts from the paper: This report identifies the size distributions of beef cattle herds, major forage grazed, and cattle systems used, as well as other structural characteristics of feeder cattle and nonfed slaughter cattle production in the major cattle raising areas of the United States. More specific objectives are to: 1) Identify subregions of the country that are relatively homogeneous in terms of basic resources, including climate, topography, soils, and vegetation, but also in terms of beef cattle and forage production techniques, management practices, and herd size distributions. 2) Identify the various cattle raising systems used in each area, including those used to produce stockers, feeders, and slaughter cattle. Included in these system identifications are the kinds and amounts of forage grazed, seasons of use, supplemental feeding practices, and timing of production. 3) Determine the proportion of all beef cattle raisers and total beef cattle raised for each system identified.