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I imagine that a lot of the Australian farms are going to be in the outback, where the quality of the land and feed for the cattle is marginal, and you have to

I imagine that a lot of the Australian farms are going to be in the outback, where the quality of the land and feed for the cattle is marginal, and you have to farm extensively (ie. range cows on large tracts of land). They are not going to be irrigating and fertilizing millions of acres, so the feed is going to be relatively poor as compared to lush, green farmland you might be familiar with.

jaimie 3y ago
Exactly. There is huge variability in how many cows can be supported by the land. For a deep dive, check out: https://www.farmbrite.com/post/how-many-cows-can-i-keep-per-acre https://www.farmbrite.com/post/how-many-cows-can-i-keep-per-...
myshpa 3y ago
> where the quality of the land and feed for the cattle is marginal Might be because they deforested those lands and have been grazing those cows there for god knows how long now. EDIT: It seems I somehow managed to overlook we're talking about the outback, not the eastern Australia. https://wwf.org.au/news/2021/australia-remains-the-only-developed-nation-on-the-list-of-global-deforestation-fronts/ https://wwf.org.au/news/2021/australia-remains-the-only-deve... AUSTRALIA REMAINS THE ONLY DEVELOPED NATION ON THE LIST OF GLOBAL DEFORESTATION FRONTS In the 13 years from 2004 to 2017, an area of forest six times the size of Tasmania, more than 43 million hectares, was lost in the 24 deforestation fronts. The report says “cattle ranching” (the destruction of trees to create pasture for cattle) was “by far the most significant driver” of forest loss or degradation in eastern Australia.
- FireBeyond 3y ago
  Contemporary Australia certainly may not have improved things, but most of those lands are and have been arid desert for millennia (in many of them, the only evidence of forestation has been pre Ice Age. It's generally just scrub).
  - myshpa 3y ago
    You're right; thank you for reminding me. However, I believe that Australia could be one of the best places in the world for reforesting those deserts. The Outback reportedly receives up to 100cm of rain every year already. Reforestation could start at the coasts and then slowly move inland. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biotic_pump https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biotic_pump https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/mar/20/our-biggest-challenge-lack-of-imagination-the-scientists-turning-the-desert-green https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/mar/20/our-bigg... https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10584-009-9626-y https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10584-009-9626-y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tB-8-sk1V6s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tB-8-sk1V6s

jaimie 3y ago

Exactly. There is huge variability in how many cows can be supported by the land. For a deep dive, check out: https://www.farmbrite.com/post/how-many-cows-can-i-keep-per-acre https://www.farmbrite.com/post/how-many-cows-can-i-keep-per-...

myshpa 3y ago

> where the quality of the land and feed for the cattle is marginal Might be because they deforested those lands and have been grazing those cows there for god knows how long now. EDIT: It seems I somehow managed to overlook we're talking about the outback, not the eastern Australia. https://wwf.org.au/news/2021/australia-remains-the-only-developed-nation-on-the-list-of-global-deforestation-fronts/ https://wwf.org.au/news/2021/australia-remains-the-only-deve... AUSTRALIA REMAINS THE ONLY DEVELOPED NATION ON THE LIST OF GLOBAL DEFORESTATION FRONTS In the 13 years from 2004 to 2017, an area of forest six times the size of Tasmania, more than 43 million hectares, was lost in the 24 deforestation fronts. The report says “cattle ranching” (the destruction of trees to create pasture for cattle) was “by far the most significant driver” of forest loss or degradation in eastern Australia.

FireBeyond 3y ago
Contemporary Australia certainly may not have improved things, but most of those lands are and have been arid desert for millennia (in many of them, the only evidence of forestation has been pre Ice Age. It's generally just scrub).
- myshpa 3y ago
  You're right; thank you for reminding me. However, I believe that Australia could be one of the best places in the world for reforesting those deserts. The Outback reportedly receives up to 100cm of rain every year already. Reforestation could start at the coasts and then slowly move inland. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biotic_pump https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biotic_pump https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/mar/20/our-biggest-challenge-lack-of-imagination-the-scientists-turning-the-desert-green https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/mar/20/our-bigg... https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10584-009-9626-y https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10584-009-9626-y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tB-8-sk1V6s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tB-8-sk1V6s