The Truth about Animal Agriculture and Food Supply

By:  Ward M. Clark

The Animal Rights agenda attacks a variety of aspects of modern life; pet ownership, hunting, fishing, and animal research among them.  Some of their more vituperative attacks, however, are reserved for animal agriculture.  The problem is, the assertions they make with respect to animal agriculture are misleading at best, and downright deceptive at worst.  In this article, we’ll examine a couple of the more common claims.

Animal Rights activists (AR's) claim, in an old, familiar, and fallacious AR saw, that "if we could take the grain we feed animals and feed it to humans, we could end world hunger."

A few rhetorical examples from the AR camp;  People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PeTA) claims, on their World Wide Web site: “Raising animals for food is much less efficient than growing vegetables, grain, or beans. For example, a cow grazing on one acre of land produces enough meat to sustain a person two and a half months; soybeans grown on that same acre would nourish a person for seven years.  The beef in just one Big Mac represents enough wheat to make five loaves of bread.”   Also:  “More than half of the total amount of water consumed in the U.S. is used to irrigate land to grow feed for livestock.”

Well, none of those claims are true.

The U.S. and Canada alone produce enough food NOW to end world hunger.  The problem isn't quantity, its distribution; there are more than a few Third World despots willing to let their people starve, if it suits some political purpose.  The upper crust in Iraq, for example, lives quite well after a decade of sanctions, at the expense of the common folks.  UN aid to Somalia in the early 1990’s was largely diverted to the “warlords” then running the show in that starving nation.

As for the grain vs. meat argument presented above; most feed animals are pastured, especially cattle; and are only "finished" on vegetable matter like silage, and grain.  Humans can't eat grass, but cattle can; and they then turn that grass into a protein source our remarkable omnivorous systems can use.

PeTA claims on their World Wide Web site that 45% of agricultural land in the US is used to grow feed for livestock destined for human consumption.

Well, the United States Department of Agriculture paints a different picture.

In 1998, USDA[1] reports 329,323,000 acres planted in various monoculture plant crops.  Here's the breakdown of principle crops, by acreage:

Now, let's examine those numbers.

We can exclude those crops grown almost exclusively for human consumption, which includes all but corn, hay, oats, and rice.  Animal feed uses of any of the others are insignificant at the commercial level.

So - if we assume that EVERY SINGLE bit of corn, hay, oats, and rice, are harvested and fed to livestock; we arrive at 45.29% of cultivated land, devoted to livestock feed.

Of course, we know that not all of the corn, oats and rice grown in the US are fed to livestock, right?  Hay, we can concede, is grown almost exclusively for livestock feed.  That accounts for 18.44% of cultivated land.

Now, on to corn; we know that only 7.38% of corn grown is harvested for silage; the balance is listed as "grain" corn.  That total includes popcorn and sweet corn grown for humans, and corn used for corn oil, and various other industrial applications.  USDA estimates that roughly 50% of grain corn is fed to livestock.  That, added to hay, brings us to 29.5% of cultivated land devoted to feed.

Incidentally,. USDA also reports that the US alone grows 39% of the corn in the world; six States, (Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska, Minnesota, Indiana and Ohio) account for 82% of that figures.  The State of Iowa alone grows 8.5% of the world total.

Oats and rice are not fed to livestock at the commercial level in significant numbers, roughly 25% of those grains are used for feed.  That brings our total percentage up to 30.63%.

Moving on, we come to soybeans.  Soybeans are used for a myriad of purposes, not least of which is food for humans - tofu, for example, or soy milk; it is also used in pharmaceutical production, and a variety of industrial applications.  USDA reports, in its 1998 data, that approximately 27% of soybeans grown are used in meal – animal feed.  That brings us to only 36.75 % of cultivated land being used to produce livestock feed.

This is of course a far cry from the PeTA claim of 45%; to arrive at the PeTA figure, you are forced to assume that every single bushel of several different food grains are used solely for livestock feed.  We now know this to not be the case, putting the lie to the PeTA figure.

            Another PeTA claim listed above is that far too much of our water resources are used in animal agriculture.  This could presumably be bottled and sent to areas with insufficient water supplies. PeTA claims that a pound of beef requires 4500 gallons of water to produce.  Well, once again, PeTA is just plain wrong.

            The University of Nebraska’s Agriculture Department reports a figure of 1200 gallons a month to finish a cow for slaughter; and from 400 to 800 a month for a growing cow.  Most cattle sold for slaughter are sold at 1000 pounds weight, which yields about 400 pounds of usable beef and by-products.  That’s at two years of age.

            If you assume the worst, that the calf will drink 800 gallons a month for the first year, and 1200 gallons a month for the second year, that yields a figure of 24,000 gallons of water – that’s 60 gallons per pound.  Again, PeTA falls far short of the truth.

            Further, PeTA’s clear implication is that the water drank by livestock mysteriously disappears, never to be seen again; when in fact, over 80% of the water used for livestock is returned to the environment.    To be honest, 100% of that water is returned eventually; water in meat consumed by humans, eventually, finds its way back into the ecosystem as well.

            Animal Rights groups also claim that consumption of meat causes increased death rates from cardiovascular disease.

            Even as meat consumption in the United States has increased, coronary disease rates (per 100,000) have dropped, from 307.4 in 1950 to 134.6 in 1996.[2]  The American Medical Association attributes the reasons for this decline to a decline in tobacco use, lowering of blood pressure due to new treatments for hypertension, improved treatments for cardiovascular diseases and incidents, and finally, a decrease in consumption of saturated fats and cholesterol – not a decrease in meat consumption.  Market trends have in fact moved towards leaner meats, and the agricultural industries have responded.

PeTA also claims that livestock are routinely treated cruelly, without adequate shelter, veterinary care, and so on; from PeTA’s “Meat Stinks” fact sheet:

“Animals on factory farms are treated like machines. Within days of birth, for example, cows have their horns torn from their heads and chickens have their beaks seared off with a hot blade. Male cows and pigs are castrated without painkillers. All of these animals spend their brief lives in crowded and ammonia-filled conditions, many of them so cramped that they can't even turn around or spread a wing. Many do not get a breath of fresh air until they are prodded and crammed onto trucks for a nightmarish ride to the slaughterhouse, often through weather extremes and always without food or water.”

Animals treated in the conditions PeTA describes would not be fit for human consumption.

PeTA seems to overlook the profit motive and basic business practice, if nothing else.  Livestock represents a huge capital investment for farmers and ranchers who are often getting by on a shoestring.  It flies in the face of reason to suggest that farmers and ranchers would deliberately mistreat animals upon which their livelihood depends.

To make matters worse, PeTA omits the fact that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) tightly regulates producers of animals for human consumption.  USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service monitors food processing facilities for cleanliness, sanitation, and good handling practices, while the Farm Service Agency supplies support to farmers and ranchers in modernization of animal husbandry technique.

The majority of animals raised for food receive excellent veterinary care, spend a significant portion of their lives at pasture, and when the time comes for slaughter, are killed quickly and humanely.

            The National Cattlemen's Beef Association has adopted the following Statement of Principles:

            Statement of Principles

Cattle producers are united in their commitment to the proper and humane care of animals, and have reaffirmed that commitment through a Statement of Principles adopted by members of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. Through their statement, cattle producers declare:

·        I believe in the humane treatment of farm animals and in continued stewardship of all natural resources;

·        I believe my cattle will be healthier and more productive when good husbandry practices are used;

·        I believe that my and future generations will benefit from my ability to sustain and conserve natural resources;

·        I will support research efforts directed toward more efficient production of a wholesome food supply;

·        I believe it is my responsibility to produce a safe and wholesome product;

·        I believe it is the purpose of food animals to serve mankind, and it is the responsibility of all human beings to care for animals in their charge.

In summary?  The claims made by PeTA regarding animal agriculture are misleading and dishonest.  Animal husbandry claims nowhere near the amount of monoculture crops and water that PeTA would have us believe.  Animal agriculture as practiced in the United States is efficient, humane, and tightly managed  to ensure a quality product.  A diet containing a balanced portion of lean meat is fully as healthy, if not more so, than a vegetarian/vegan diet.  Animal producers in the main hold to a high standard of care and human treatment of the animals that are the source of their very living.

So, enjoy the burgers.  It’s OK.

Copyright © 2000 by Ward M. Clark. All rights reserved.