| Just to compare cattle mass to cattle mass. > We've had an estimated 30-60 million bison in the US, now we have 100+ million cows. The US has always had < 50 million adult cows (milk or beef), the difference is yearling calves. The bison estimates likely didn't include calves either .. and have a lot of bounce in any case. There were 89.3 million head of cattle and calves on U.S. farms as of Jan. 1, 2023, https://www.nass.usda.gov/Newsroom/2023/01-31-2023.php * Of the 89.3 million head inventory, all cows and heifers that have calved totaled 38.3 million. * There are 28.9 million beef cows in the United States as of Jan. 1, 2023, down 4% from last year. * The number of milk cows in the United States increased to 9.40 million. * U.S. calf crop was estimated at 34.5 million head, down 2% from 2021. * All cattle on feed were at 14.2 million head, down 4% from 2022 As pointed out by olddustytrail .. that's the US. Elsewhere meat consumption can save the planet by decreasing hoove heavy ferals that aren't managed at all - eg: Australia where camels, donkeys, goats, and cleanskin cattle are all introduced animals run wild that can be rounded up and trucked out every year in a never ending game of trying to keep their numbers in check and stop them over taxing the environment. Kangaroos are native but savagely boom | bust - when the wet years hit numbers spike and if the population isn't culled the following years see the ground littered with dead as water resources contract. |