[shipman05]

I do not presume to know your dietary habits, but I find it interesting that only ~4% of US beef production is "grass fed" yet everyone claims to be only eating beef grazed on semi-arable land using regenerative agriculture.

"they graze on semi-arable areas where crops can't be grown"

That may or may not be where your steak comes from, but it is not, as a rule, where most steak comes from. Most steaks come from cattle started on grass and finished on corn, and an increasing amount come from cattle who graze on Brazilian rainforest land clear-cut just for that purpose.

[willmadden]

Your numbers and definitions are apparently based on cooked google search results and are wrong. You should read more about how cows are fed and raised before forming opinions.

93% of cattle's caloric intake (whether grass or grain finished) does not compete with human suitable food sources.

Also, all cattle are grass-fed for some of their lives:

https://extension.okstate.edu/fact-sheets/print-publications...

>While the diet provided to finishing cattle in feedlots relies on some human-edible inputs (i.e., corn grain), the forages and byproducts fed to cattle throughout their lives are largely inedible to humans. For example, once the entire lifetime feed intake of cattle is accounted for (meaning all the feed they consume from birth to harvest), corn accounts for only approximately 7 percent of the animal’s diet. The other 93 percent of the animal’s lifetime diet will consist largely of feed that is inedible to humans, thus not in direct competition with the human food supply.

[shipman05]

You say "You should read more about how cows are fed and raised before forming opinions." And you shouldn't assume you know everything about strangers on the internet. I'm no rancher, but I'm quite familiar with cattle production. Growing up in rural Missouri I took part in most aspects of it.

You seem to be arguing against something other than my comment. "Also, all cattle are grass-fed for some of their lives"...yes...as I stated "Most steaks come from cattle started on grass and finished on corn"

There are certainly large swaths of the world where cattle production can be regenerative to the ecosystem, but not enough to support the demand. Meeting the world's increasing appetite for beef as developing nations adopt the dietary habits of wealthier nations is turning into an environmental catastrophe.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/interactive/2022/amazon...

[InSteady]

>The other 93 percent of the animal’s lifetime diet will consist largely of feed that is inedible to humans, thus not in direct competition with the human food supply.

Just because feed is inedible to humans does not mean it doesn't compete with the human food supply or lead to environmental and resource problems. Take alfalfa, which is one of the most popular feed crops for cattle:

>How much of California's water goes to alfalfa? About 1,000,000 acres of alfalfa are irrigated in California. This large acreage coupled with a long growing season make alfalfa the largest agricultural user of water, with annual water applications of 4,000,000 to 5,500,000 acre-feet.

https://ucmanagedrought.ucdavis.edu/Agriculture/Crop_Irrigat...

[willmadden]

No, it doesn't compete with human suitable food or land used for growing human suitable food.

Without livestock agriculture, most of our farmland in the US would not be farmable. Also, most of the "grain" we feed cows is waste from ethanol production, not corn humans eat.

[joshuahaglund]

It does compete for water and cropland. And ethanol production is also a waste of resources

[hombre_fatal]

If you run into these people in person, ask them specifically where they get their beef. The facade of extreme scrutiny and knowledge over where their beef comes from falls apart immediately.