Comments by "Xyz Same" (@xyzsame4081) on "What I've Learned"
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3:59 that is ONLY true for grass fed cattle (the discussion has switched from lifestock to cattle again). Of course most water used in agriculture is coming from rain (or recharged groundwater) it couldn't possibly all be pumped up from underground. But you have to count the use of PRIME locations (although soil may be dergraded meanwhile) where the soy, corn, and other grain (plants with demands) is grown to feed cows (and pigs, chickens, ...)
That fodder comes dry to whereever the cattle is fed, and the water stays NOT on the land where the fodder is grown and the fodder competes with use of land and rain for OTHER purposes. Some farmers meanwhile use not till methods and cover crops and thus evaporate less water, but a lot is just sucked up by the air and the wind. And since they do not grow trees there is nothing to change the microclimate to be a little moister, some condensation in late night, the occasional short rain.
The water is not imported to where the cows eat the grain. On the contrary they need more water to make the dry fodder digestable - compared to grass fed cattle. And grass fed cattle or dairy is not the majority not even in the U.S. Dairy cows get extra grains, and the cattle is finished on grains before being slaughtered.
Factory farms/ feed lots have much more animals than their land could naturally support (they import nutrients from farms that mainly grow plants - like I said in prime locations. that tend to be on the lower side with rain and fairly sunny. One could grow vegetables, but one would need to manage water carefully.
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