While I don’t think this argument, er, holds water for other reasons, it is worth noting that a lot of cattle feed comes from irrigated crops which are grown in areas where they are draining water from underground aquifers and overdrawn rivers faster than they’re being replenished. This video, for example, though it is not wholly about this topic, discusses the common cattle feed of alfalfa, which is a water heavy crop grown widely in the Colorado river basin.
I genuinely don’t know how much US beef is fed alfalfa grown with water drawn from rivers.
My intention with the following is not to throw any shade on the US, but I just don’t know what the farming practices are elsewhere in the world.
In my state, there are no “feed lots” and cattle exclusively graze in paddocks. Their feed is supplemented with silage and hay but none of which is irrigated, even from a local on-property dam. That is to say that the entirety is their feed is grown with direct rainfall.
I’m just pointing out that while some water inputs may be from rivers, it’s not the entirety and I doubt it’s the majority.
While I don’t think this argument, er, holds water for other reasons, it is worth noting that a lot of cattle feed comes from irrigated crops which are grown in areas where they are draining water from underground aquifers and overdrawn rivers faster than they’re being replenished. This video, for example, though it is not wholly about this topic, discusses the common cattle feed of alfalfa, which is a water heavy crop grown widely in the Colorado river basin.
I genuinely don’t know how much US beef is fed alfalfa grown with water drawn from rivers.
My intention with the following is not to throw any shade on the US, but I just don’t know what the farming practices are elsewhere in the world.
In my state, there are no “feed lots” and cattle exclusively graze in paddocks. Their feed is supplemented with silage and hay but none of which is irrigated, even from a local on-property dam. That is to say that the entirety is their feed is grown with direct rainfall.
I’m just pointing out that while some water inputs may be from rivers, it’s not the entirety and I doubt it’s the majority.