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Peak beef [1]: the US beef cattle headcount peaked at about 45 million in the late '70s and is now at about 31 million as of 2020. Globally [2] the beef cattle

Peak beef [1]: the US beef cattle headcount peaked at about 45 million in the late '70s and is now at about 31 million as of 2020. Globally [2] the beef cattle inventory has been basically stable since 1985 at between 200 and 220 million heads. One can say maybe the cows have gotten heavier, but no, the total beef production in tons has been flat too [3]. [1] https://www.nass.usda.gov/Charts_and_Maps/Cattle/bcow.php https://www.nass.usda.gov/Charts_and_Maps/Cattle/bcow.php [2] https://beef2live.com/story-world-beef-cow-inventory-year-130-153678 https://beef2live.com/story-world-beef-cow-inventory-year-13... [3] https://www.statista.com/statistics/263992/beef-production-worldwide-since-1990/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/263992/beef-production-w...

Symmetry 6y ago
That's because we're using agricultural products to make cows get heavier, quicker than we did in the `70s. Going back to 1970s model where we had more cows which developed more slowly because they got their energy from grazing would require more labor than the system we have now but it would be much better for the environment. From an environmental and animal welfare prospective I don't have much of a problem with grazing cattle. It's the feedlots where cows now spend the last phase of their lives being stuffed with soy and high energy feed that's the problem.