alt Hacker NewsCattle are inefficient consumers of grain, but highly efficient consumers of grass. Most land used for pasture can't effectively be used for anything else.
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mapt • today at 2:42 AM
We feed the average cow >10lbs of grain and also some alfalfa for every pound of meat we get out right now.
Part of the cull would likely be shifting towards more grass fed production. Another part would simply be prioritizing chicken or pork for a while.
This argument might sound good, but those cattle are fed crops, not just sunshine and the grass they walk on.
Most crops grown in the US are used as animal feed. They are dependent on arable land that could be used to grow food for humans directly and much more efficiently. We just like the taste, so we accept the inefficiency.