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To put a point on the entitlement, ranching in the midwest is often synonymous with grazing for minimal cost, on federal land. That's basically a giant subsidy.
by imglorp 7y ago
To put a point on the entitlement, ranching in the midwest is often synonymous with grazing for minimal cost, on federal land. That's basically a giant subsidy.
SO the true cost of meat SHOULD include erosion, pollution, and management of federal lands, antibiotic release into the water table, water use, and GHG emissions. But instead we pay most of those costs through taxes and have lower cost at the grocery store.
https://www.blm.gov/programs/natural-resources/rangelands-and-grazing/livestock-grazing https://www.blm.gov/programs/natural-resources/rangelands-an...
- jimmaswell 7y agoSo their cows mow the grass for free while the farmer gets cows fed for free. Sounds like a win-win on the surface.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- cultus 7y agoYou realize we are talking about natural habitats here, right? It's not a lawn. Most public grazing land is arid, and quite fragile. Grazing can turn a rich ecosystem into a moonscape very quickly. Not to mention the feces destroys water quality.
- cultus 7y agoIIRC, the BLM charges around 15% of what it would cost on the open market. If the land were sold off like these rugged individualists want, most of them probably couldn't even afford it. Ranchers are usually well-off, but not massively so. They'd be stuck paying someone else sky-high grazing fees. The market would probably just get taken over by big players just like most of the rest of agriculture has.
- thatcat 7y agoThey really should include all externalizations in every business. It's the only way to provide incentive to exerting the required effort to create sustainable businesses in a free market.