Yeah, we can’t really eat grass, but thinking that most cattle nowadays actually graze is… inaccurate, to put it mildly.
Factory-farmed cattle are almost always fed grain made of corn and soy, both of which are completely fine for humans to eat, in case someone was unaware.
Producing 1kg of beef takes several kilos of feed.
Just so you know cattle are only grain finished, personally I don’t like the practice. More details in my reply to a different comment. https://lemmy.world/comment/8250179
Grass fed: small minority of beef cattle, finished on grain after grazing for about a year. Typically slaughtered at 18-24 months of age.
Grass finished: even smaller minority not fed grains and allowed to graze their entire lives. Typically slaughtered around 18-24 months of age.
Normal: majority raised in feedlots on heavy grain-based diets. Typically slaughtered closer to 16 months of age.
All are slaughtered well shy of the 20+ year life expectancy of a cow in a sanctuary.
I grew up with an uncle who raised steer and the sheer amount of land it took just to grow the corn and grass they ate was astounding. The animals also needed constant medication to stop them getting each other sick due to diet and proximity. So that’s the regular non organic, non grass fed/finished reality. With human population the way it is that kind of farming is pretty much the only way we can sustain eating meat in the amount we do.
I wonder, realistically, how much land it would take to produce our meat, at the current rate of consumption per capita, to grass feed/finish all those animals.
According to this study, we would have needed an area about three quarters the size of Texas to meet 2010 demand. Who knows what it would be today. https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/2/2/127
I have never even heard of a cow calf operation operating as a feed lot. Every single cow calf operation I have ever seen, heard of, ect feeding pasture or grass hay.
And you did we were I said I disagree with feed lots right?
Yeah, we can’t really eat grass, but thinking that most cattle nowadays actually graze is… inaccurate, to put it mildly.
Factory-farmed cattle are almost always fed grain made of corn and soy, both of which are completely fine for humans to eat, in case someone was unaware.
Producing 1kg of beef takes several kilos of feed.
Just so you know cattle are only grain finished, personally I don’t like the practice. More details in my reply to a different comment. https://lemmy.world/comment/8250179
Grass fed: small minority of beef cattle, finished on grain after grazing for about a year. Typically slaughtered at 18-24 months of age.
Grass finished: even smaller minority not fed grains and allowed to graze their entire lives. Typically slaughtered around 18-24 months of age.
Normal: majority raised in feedlots on heavy grain-based diets. Typically slaughtered closer to 16 months of age.
All are slaughtered well shy of the 20+ year life expectancy of a cow in a sanctuary.
I grew up with an uncle who raised steer and the sheer amount of land it took just to grow the corn and grass they ate was astounding. The animals also needed constant medication to stop them getting each other sick due to diet and proximity. So that’s the regular non organic, non grass fed/finished reality. With human population the way it is that kind of farming is pretty much the only way we can sustain eating meat in the amount we do.
I wonder, realistically, how much land it would take to produce our meat, at the current rate of consumption per capita, to grass feed/finish all those animals.
According to this study, we would have needed an area about three quarters the size of Texas to meet 2010 demand. Who knows what it would be today. https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/2/2/127
I have never even heard of a cow calf operation operating as a feed lot. Every single cow calf operation I have ever seen, heard of, ect feeding pasture or grass hay.
And you did we were I said I disagree with feed lots right?