4 ms·

Unfortunately very little of produced meat is produced that way. And even in South America often forest is cleared to make room for grass, but in that soil the

Unfortunately very little of produced meat is produced that way. And even in South America often forest is cleared to make room for grass, but in that soil the grass is not sustainable.

EdwardDiego 7y ago
> Unfortunately very little of produced meat is produced that way. That is true. Question is why. In NZ our beef is still exclusively reared on pasture (with hay and winter crops like brassicas for winter feed), I've never understood why there's such a move to feeding grain to cattle overseas.
- ctack 7y ago
  It's the farmers trying to raise too many cattle on too little land. Also feedlots.
  - EdwardDiego 7y ago
    I had to google feedlots. They seem a tad unsustainable.
- rjf72 7y ago
  - In the US we have vast surpluses of corn, and it's heavily subsidized by the government. - Feed lots can fit a whole lot more cows per acre. - Corn tends to fatten up cows more (and more quickly) than grazing. - Increased fat content = meat that grades higher and tends to sell for more meaning you also earn more $/lb on top of the other reasons.
- pjc50 7y ago
  US subsidy policy encourages huge over-production of grain, so ways have to be found to get rid of it such as feeding it to animals or making ethanol out of it, or making HFCS and putting it in drinks.
- Spooky23 7y ago
  There was a policy decision made in the Nixon era. Basically, it was determined that corn was the cheapest way to generate certain caloric targets. This achieved that objective and also secondarily helped with certain political objectives. So there's a whole subsidy and trade system around corn growth that basically stifles everything else. The outcome for agriculture has overall been devastation for all but the largest operators. The "scale up" makes it impossible for all but the largest farms to compete. When my parents were kids in the 60s, a diversified, smallish farm was a sustainable thing. When I was a kid in the 80s/90s, they concentrated on bigger dairy or corn operations. Today, they're going out of business or make money selling doughnuts.

Unfortunately very little of produced meat is produced that way. And even in South America often forest is cleared to make room for grass, but in that soil the grass is not sustainable.

EdwardDiego 7y ago

> Unfortunately very little of produced meat is produced that way. That is true. Question is why. In NZ our beef is still exclusively reared on pasture (with hay and winter crops like brassicas for winter feed), I've never understood why there's such a move to feeding grain to cattle overseas.

ctack 7y ago
It's the farmers trying to raise too many cattle on too little land. Also feedlots.
- EdwardDiego 7y ago
  I had to google feedlots. They seem a tad unsustainable.
rjf72 7y ago
- In the US we have vast surpluses of corn, and it's heavily subsidized by the government. - Feed lots can fit a whole lot more cows per acre. - Corn tends to fatten up cows more (and more quickly) than grazing. - Increased fat content = meat that grades higher and tends to sell for more meaning you also earn more $/lb on top of the other reasons.
pjc50 7y ago
US subsidy policy encourages huge over-production of grain, so ways have to be found to get rid of it such as feeding it to animals or making ethanol out of it, or making HFCS and putting it in drinks.
Spooky23 7y ago
There was a policy decision made in the Nixon era. Basically, it was determined that corn was the cheapest way to generate certain caloric targets. This achieved that objective and also secondarily helped with certain political objectives. So there's a whole subsidy and trade system around corn growth that basically stifles everything else. The outcome for agriculture has overall been devastation for all but the largest operators. The "scale up" makes it impossible for all but the largest farms to compete. When my parents were kids in the 60s, a diversified, smallish farm was a sustainable thing. When I was a kid in the 80s/90s, they concentrated on bigger dairy or corn operations. Today, they're going out of business or make money selling doughnuts.