this post was submitted on 02 Dec 2023
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I would love a statisic and source on that, because my understanding is the vast majority is corn, oats, and soy grown with the intention of being eaten by live stock.
Quick check shows that 80% of soy beans for example is used to feed live stock.
https://www.foodnavigator.com/Article/2023/06/14/soy-animal-feed-s-trail-of-deforestation-what-are-the-solutions#:~:text=However%2C%20only%20about%2020%25%20of,for%20vegetarian%20and%20vegan%20products.
The vast majority of animals products are from animals in factory farms that want bulk and consistent food.
The same soybeans that are fed to livestock are the same soybeans that are pressed for oil. somewhere around 85% of all soybeans in the world are pressed for oil. The by-product of that process is called soy meal or soy cake. that makes up the vast majority of the soy that is fed to animals. only about 7% of soybeans are actually fed directly to animals.
https://ourworldindata.org/images/published/Global-soy-production-to-end-use.png
Okay you got me there! Soy was an awful example.
Oats though 95% are for animal feed though and corn is similar.
I'm not as personally familiar with the corn or oats but I do know that corn isn't just the kernels. we're able to feed the cobs and stocks as silage to livestock. there is way more cobs and stock than there are kernels. it would make sense that more of that would go to livestock than to people.
Most corn grown is a type of corn you don't wanna eat, because it's for live stock or ethanol.
If all animals were fed off of human food waste we wouldn't be having this conversation. We also could only support like 1% of the live stock we do. 1 billion, cows, 1 billion pigs, and 33 billion chickens eat a lot more food than humans just throw away! And almost all of them are in factory farms, meaning they aren't just grazing. They are being brought food.
The reality is the vast majority of factory farms are using farm land dedicated to only feeding animals and no other purpose. Which is such a departure from what we think of as farms.
all beef cattle graze
about half of the land attributed to livestock is grazing/pasture land. of the crop land, almost all of that is also producing plants for some other use. as much corn, for instance, becomes ethanol as is fed to livestock. and livestock are also fed crop seconds or waste from other crops like cottonseed.
Thr vast majority of animals are factory farmed, so the idea that pasture land is feeding any noticable amount of animals is just wrong.
I would love a source for anything you're saying.
The fact that corn is also grown for ethanol in no way changes that more corn is grown for them to eat does it? Like the corn fed to animals cant be used for ethanol. Also what use does feeding them oats accomplish?
you should look up how much pasture land is part of that 80% figure that you quoted.
All beef cattle graze for about their first year. The only spend the last 4 months or so in a concentrated feeding operation.
How much pasture land is being given to pigs? Or chickens? Oh, none? Because I'm not just talking about cows am I?
My dude, you provide a source for anything you are saying or I'm blocking you as a troll at this point.
You're the one who brought up the 80% of land issue. you should understand what it means. calling me names doesn't change the truth.
you are cherrypicking. the initial claim was about global land use. now you want to look at the chicago metro area.
I haven't lied about anything.
The discussion wasn't about United States agriculture. it was about the agricultural land use across the whole world. You're still cherry picking.
all beef cattle graze for about a year and spend the last 4-6 months on a feed lot. you just don't know what you're talking about.
you don't raise beef cattle. do you know how I know?