Investigate maximum meat production using only non-arable land

[squeek502]

This is just something I think would be interesting to find out: the maximum amount of meat obtained from a purely pasture-based animal agriculture industry in the U.S. using only ruminants (cows, sheep, goats) on non-arable/marginal land in a sustainable way, as compared to the current amount of meat produced from those same species in the U.S.

I have a feeling it will be a rather small percentage of current production.

Information needed:

• How much non-arable grazing land exists in the United States?
• How much area per animal would be necessary to graze that land in a sustainable way?
• How long does it take, on average, to get an animal to slaughter weight on grazing alone?
• How much meat would be produced per animal (in whatever unit current meat production is reported in)?
• How much meat of that same type of animal is currently being produced in the United States?

Some potential starting points:

• http://animalwelfareapproved.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/A-Breath-of-Fresh-Air-v1.pdf
• http://www.extension.iastate.edu/smallfarms/alternative-specialty-crops/forage-pasture
• http://www.sustainablebeef.org/
• http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/MannUsda/viewDocumentInfo.do?documentID=1097

[squeek502]

Total U.S. beef production in 2014

24,318,400,000 pounds (using dressed weight)

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Source: http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/MannUsda/viewDocumentInfo.do?documentID=1097

[squeek502]

Dressed % of cattle

Average live weight in 2014: 1,330 pounds Average dressed weight in 2014: 808 pounds Dressed %: 60.75%

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Source: http://usda.mannlib.cornell.edu/MannUsda/viewDocumentInfo.do?documentID=1097

[squeek502]

Potentially useful: Pastureland and Hayland in the USA: Land Resources, Conservation Practices, and Ecosystem Services

Haven't read all of it, but this stuck out:

In contrast with rangeland, pastureland management is relatively intensive and technology based, commonly with inputs of seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides. Most plant species present are not native, and pastureland may be periodically renovated or replanted by a variety of techniques. Stocking densities on pastureland vary from 0.7 to 2 ha per grazing animal (Burns and Bagley, 1996). By contrast, rangelands predominate in the drier western half of the USA, with a few exceptions such as the flatwoods rangeland of Florida, longleaf pine grassland in Alabama and Louisiana, and scattered areas of fragmented native grasslands.