牧草既包括本地（1.57亿英亩的牧场）又包括引进的（1.11亿英亩）的植物，可为家畜和野生动物提供营养，这有助于德克萨斯州土地资源的保护和可持续性。牧草提供了牲畜一生中消耗的大约70％的营养，并且是德克萨斯牲畜业赖以建立的基础。饲草是德克萨斯州254个县中唯一的“农作物”。目前，牲畜的现金收入超过100亿，其中约85亿来自肉牛。此外，牧草作为干草的贡献超过7亿，是野生动植物资源89亿经济影响的主要组成部分。牧草还可以提高水质，可以作为处理农业和城市废物的场所，是可再生的能源，可以为野生动植物提供食物和栖息
Forages, which includes both native (157 million acres rangeland) and introduced (111 million acres) plants that provide nutrients for domestic animals and wildlife, contributes to resource conservation and sustainability of land areas in Texas. Forages provide about 70% of the nutrients consumed during the lifetime of livestock, and are the foundation on which the Texas livestock industry is built. Forages are the only crop found in each of Texas 254 counties. Currently, cash receipts are more than 10 billion for livestock with about 8.5 billion attributed to beef cattle. In addition, forages contribute more than 700 million as hay and they are a major component of the 8.9 billion economic impact for wildlife resource. Forages also enhance water quality, serve as sites for the disposal of agricultural and municipal wastes, are renewable sources of energy, provide food and habitat for wildlife, and are used to revegetate disturbed lands and public right-of-ways.