Rich Molini
Atlanta, Indiana
Bauer wrote:
>
> Peter,
>
> I sent your request to an email listserv called SANET-mg, dealing with
> sustainable agriculture. Below are the messages I received in response to
> your questions.
>
> (SANETers, sorry for the long post but many of you requested this be sent to
> the whole group.)
>
> FIRST MESSAGE
> --------------
> Sending this to you, Lisa, since I don't know who the original poster is!
> You probably know about these two books, but just thought I'd throw them in
> the list of considerations...
>
> I think you could get some pretty good approximations to these answers by
> checking out Lappe''s most recent edition of "Diet for a Small Planet" and
> Robbins' "Diet for New America." And, of course, there are many citations
> in each of those books for further research.
>
> Oh, also, the people at Ecology Action in California, John Jeavons, et al,
> have been researching question #1 for almost 20 years. Through their
> biointensive agriculture approach, they've managed to work out sustainable
> and prolific crop production in very small plots. See "Growing More
> Vegetables", by John Jeavons.
>
> Hope this helps,
> Scott
>
> $$$$$$$$ Elections that are For Sale Are Not Free $$$$$$$$$$$
>
> Scott Barber sbarber@mindspring.com
>
> SECOND MESSAGE
> -------------
> Lisa
> You're inquiry is rather circuitous, but these are my guesstimates
> #1 About .25 acre per year for vegetable, .2 acre per year for grains
> .15 acre per year fruit and nut per person and about .4 acre per person
> for meats , milk and egg products. I don't know about fish. Therefore
> 1000 people need about 1000 acres
> #2 About 2.50 acres per beef animal combined pasture, hay and grains
> per year. One average market size animal can supply about 10 people for
> a year with average beef consumption. Therefore you need about 100
> animals for 1000 people. 250 acres for production.
> #3 100 as described in 2
> #4 Few beef are pastured in this country anymore. Most are confined fed
> at huge feedlots which require tremendous amounts of antibiotics to fend
> off epidemic bacterial and viral infections and extensive use of
> synthetic hormones to push the animal to production early to reduce
> mortality because of all the diseases and stressors they encounter. The
> number of acres of course depends on where you operate. Pasture is not
> useful in northern temperate from Nov thru April. If I tried to raise
> 1000 in central Indiana I would need at least 1500 acres of productive
> pasture and 1500 acres of productive hay and crop land to bring 1000
> beef to market size from birth operating organically and sustainably.
> Conventionally , it could probably be done on 1250 and 1250 with
> resultant destruction of natural ecosystems and degradation of many of
> our resources and human health. 2500 acres for 1000 beef animals same as
> #3 times 10. (3000 for sustainable organic production)
>
> THIRD MESSAGE
> --------------
> Hello,
>
> #1. Under Ideal conditions, How many acres of farmland are necessary
> >to support one thousand people for a year ?
>
> eak: I am going to throw you a curve ball. Forget about existing farming.
> Consider the temperate zone of the world. The figure is going to go down
> drastically when you move to consider the tropics. It takes about 15 acres,
> managed efficiently, to support a family of 5 inland with some fishing. On
> the ocean it takes about 10 acres to support a family of 5. In the tropics
> cut these figures in half.
>
> >#2. Under ideal, and current consumption amounts, how many acres of
> >grazing land are necessary to support the cattle consumed as meat by
> >one thousand people in one year ?
>
> eak: A single dairy cow which can support a family of 5 will take about 8
> efficiently run acres per year. Poultry and a couple of hogs another two
> acres.
>
> >#3. How many cattle are slaughtered each year to fulfill the meat
> >consumption of the USA (per 1000 people)?
>
> eak: Don't know, but meat and livestock product consumption is growing most
> rapidly among nations other then the US, Canada and the EU.
>
> >#4. If I was going to raise 1000 cattle and feed them on my own ranch,
> >how many acres would I need of pasture land?
>
> eak: Question needs to be revised. In the desert it would take everything,
> in the luxuriant and well managed tropics the figures can be very small
> comparative to the temperate zone. A small but stable amount of grain, at
> appropriate times, along with access to legumes is essential for the most
> rapid growth and best tasting and cutting quality livestock products. If you
> want a tough piece of meat, it can be raised on less pasture, etc. High
> quality pasture and winter feed is essential. Generalizations need to be
> placed in the context of climate, geography and water availability.
>
> Best Regards, Eric Kindberg
>
> FOURTH MESSAGE
> -------------
> The resource that answers these questions under conventional
> conditions is Francis Moore Lappes "Food First". One must consider
> that under alternative growing conditions, all these figures change
> drammatically. For example it is traditionally considered that one cow
> requires one acre of ground, but on rotational grazing systems upwards
> of 6 cows can be produced on six acres. How many people can be fed on
> one acre varies under conventional production and intensive bed
> production. One must consider the production system, and the limits to
> production (ie natureal resources). Not an easy point to ponder.
>
> JJ Haapala
> Oregon Tilth Research and Education
>
> FIFTH MESSAGE
> -------------
> From: D.B.Sullivan <Buffalob@mhtc.net>
> To: Lisa Bauer <sare003@unlvm.unl.edu>
> Cc: Shizznik@Sover.net
> Subject: Re: Help-
>
> Also---check with
> www.usda.com
> http://www.beeftoday.com/
> or www.cowtown.org
>
> ====
> <<snip>>
> >Dear SIr,
> >#1. Under Ideal conditions, How many acres of farmland are necessary
> >to support one thousand people for a year ? 1300 acres currently
> check out organic farming websites - 5-10 families could be fed under
> intensive organic production per acre but it won't be beef.....
> =====
> The diverse American diet requires a minimum of about 1.3 acres of
> cropland per person; about 1.7 acres are available now.
> Doubling of population within 60 years would reduce this to 0.8 acres
> per capita, decreasing food variety and raising domestic food prices 300-500%.
> =======================
> >#2. Under ideal, and current consumption amounts, how many acres of
> >grazing land are necessary to support the cattle consummed as meat by
> >one thousand people in one year ?
>
> Caught In The Beefnet
> Animal unit calculations
> by Steve Suther
>
> When Maryland and USDA grazing conservation specialist Ben H. Cooper
> (bcooper@md.nrcs.usda.gov) posted guidelines for Animal Unit Equivalents (AUE)
> in grazing livestock, he set off a discussion on the relative value of a
> calculator in planned grazing. Cooper listed a basic animal unit (1.0) as being
> equivalent to a 1,000-lb. dry cow, while a nursing pair would take a factor of
> 1.35. The discussion was on the Graze-L discussion list.
>
> Alberta consultant Ross Gould (srgould@agt.net) wrote of a need to adjust AUE's
> to allow for "the 20% to 40% heavier cow" since the introduction of Continental
> breeds in the 1970s. "We also find a wide variation in average mature cow
> weights among our beef herds, depending on the genetics."
>
> Switching terminology to the more familiar Animal Unit Month (AUM) to include
> the suckling calf, Gould posted a range of precise factors up to 1.21 AUM for a
> 1,400-lb. cow, and figures for heifers, steers and bulls—while allowing that
> the factors may need further adjustments for calf intake and genetics.
>
> Wisconsin beef producer Stephen Castner (slc@execpc.com), wrote, "A 20%
> adjustment factor for a 1,400-lb. cow should argue for the elimination of
> large-frame females unless they can be shown to produce calves without
> assistance, that survive to weaning and gain efficiently."
>
> Purdue Beef Research and Teaching Center Manager Rick Griebenow
> (rgrieben@www.ansc.purdue.edu) noted that body condition score can swing a
> mature cow's weight by 250 lb. His postgraduate thesis research showed the most
> efficient weight for a cow in management intensive grazing is between 1,100 lb.
> and 1,250 lb., body condition score 5, given high milk potential and the calf
> born after April 15.
>
> Castner agreed with Gould's final comment: "The art of modern grazing
> management is in the observation of the condition of both the forage and the
> grazing stock. Observations are then used to adjust stocking pressure and
> timing to maintain the optimum condition of both,"
>
> he says. "Unless we run our grazing animals through the chute and across the
> scale weekly, we can hardly use such refined data."
>
> Yet refined data kept coming in. Rupert Jones detailed the Fodder Unit
> equivalency formula he helped develop in South Africa: "It fits all livestock,
> with only three easily remembered adjustment factors according to lactation,"
> Jones explains.
>
> One Fodder Unit is an animal that eats 10 kg (22 lb.) DM per day. Estimate any
> animal's Fodder Unit equivalence by the formula 0.01
>
> (Weight ** 0.75) * Factor, where Factor = 1 for all nonlactating animals, 1.2
> for lactating ewes or beef cows, and 1.5 for dairy cows. So a steer of 465 kg
> (1,023 lb.) is one Fodder Unit, a suckling beef cow of 465 kg is 1.2 and her
> 50-kg calf is 0.19.
>
> "To raise a weight [W] number to the power 0.75 on most pocket calculators,
> enter W, hit the square root key twice [not too rapidly], the X [multiply] key
> twice, and the = key twice." Example, 350 Rt Rt X X = = gives 80.9, so this dry
> animal is 0.81 Fodder Unit and has a DM intake capacity of 8.1 kg/day. "The
> quality of the DM depends on whether you want maintenance, slow growth or rapid
> growth," Jones wrote.
>
> SIXTH MESSAGE
> ---------------
> FYI Here is data that could help from three published papers
> from Cornet University Professor David Pimentel
> Also---check with
> www.usda.com
> http://www.beeftoday.com/
> or www.cowtown.org
>
> ===
> (FOOD PRODUCTION THREATENED BY U.S. POPULATION GROWTH)
>
> (Future water and energy shortages predicted to change face of American
> agriculture)
>
> (EIGHT MEATY FACTS ABOUT ANIMAL FOOD)
> ===========================================
> <<snip>>
> >Dear SIr,
> >#1. Under Ideal conditions, How many acres of farmland are necessary
> >to support one thousand people for a year ? 1300 acres currently
> check out organic farming websites - 5-10 families could be fed under
> intensive organic production per acre but it won't be beef.....
> =====
> The diverse American diet requires a minimum of about 1.3 acres of
> cropland per person; about 1.7 acres are available now.
> Doubling of population within 60 years would reduce this to 0.8 acres
> per capita, decreasing food variety and raising domestic food prices 300-500%.
> =======================
> >#2. Under ideal, and current consumption amounts, how many acres of
> >grazing land are necessary to support the cattle consummed as meat by
> >one thousand people in one year ?
>
> More than 302 million hectares of land are devoted to producing feed
> for the U.S. livestock population -- about 272 million hectares in pasture and
> about 30 million hectares for cultivated feed grains
>
> >#3. How many cattle are slaughtered each year to fullfill the meat
> >consumption of the USA (per 1000 people)?
> Around 3,000,000 to 4,000,000 annual for US market
> check with
> www.usda.com
> http://www.beeftoday.com/
> or www.cowtown.org
>
> >#4. If I was going to raise 1000 cattle and feed them on my own ranch,
> >how many acres would I need of pasture land?
> In Wisconsin it would be around 1000 , out west it could run
> 10,000 to 40,000 acres
>
> ><snip>>
> =======
>
> FOOD PRODUCTION THREATENED BY U.S. POPULATION GROWTH
> New Study Shows
>
> $40 BILLION EXPORT INCOME AT RISK
>
> Earth Day rounder and Former U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson
> Sees Crisis Looming
>
> Cornet University Professor David Pimentel, a renowned expert on the
> energy, land and water requirements of U.S. agriculture will present
> the findings of his new study "U.S. Food Production Threatened by Rapid
> Population Growth" at a
>
> NEWS CONFERENCE
>
> 2 PM, Thursday, October 30, 1997
> National Press Club, Zenger Room, Washington, D.C.
>
> Earth Day founder and former U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson wilt
> introduce Dr. Pimentel. The study shows that the United States
> currently exports 20% of the food it produces, generating $40 billion in trade
> income.
> "This exportable U.S. food surplus and the $40 billion annual income
> generated will likely be reduced to nearly $0 by 2025. if present U.S,
> population growth and farmland loss trends continue," Dr. Pimentel commented.
> His new study is part of an ongoing, definitive investigation into the effects
> of current and projected U.S. population growth on future U.S. food
> production capability.
>
> Former U.S. Senator and Earth Day founder Gaylord Nelson, who will
> introduce Dr. Pimentel1 commented, "It is clear from Dr. Pimentel's
> study that a crisis looms both for sustaining adequate levels of food
> production for domestic consumption and maintaining the United States' $40
> billion export income from it, unless we stop U.S. population growth soon."
>
> Dr. Pimentel's study contains these alarming findings:
>
> Over I million acres of land will continue to be lost annually to
> urban,transportation and industrial expansion, of which about half are from
> the 470 million acres of arable land now in cultivation. Another 2
> million acres of farmland are lost annually to erosion, salinization, and
> waterlogging related to unsustainable agricultural practices. In sum,
> we will continue to lose about 3 million acres of land a year, unless we
> stop U.S. population growth and halt unsustainable agricultural practices.
>
> Thus, given U.S. population growth of about 3 million per year, for
> each person added to our population, about 1 acre of tend is lost.
>
> With nearly 270 million people today, the United States is third most
> populated nation on earth, after only China and India. Our population
> is currently growing at annual rate of 1.1% nearly 3 million net per year
> (over 55,000 per week). If this rate continues, our population will
> double to 540 million in 60 years.
>
> The diverse American diet requires a minimum of about 1.3 acres of
> cropland per person; about 1.7 acres are available now.
> Doubling of population within 60 years would reduce this to 0.8 acres
> per capita, decreasing food variety and raising domestic food prices 300-500%.
>
> As Dr. Pimentel notes, "If we do not stop U.S. population growth and
> farmland loss soon, most Americans will be unable to enjoy a typical
> Thanksgiving feast in 2050." The way to avoid this harsh future is
> clear: stop immigration-driven population growth, and conserve our land,
> water and energy resources4
>
> Agriculture consumes 85% of U.S. water resources; groundwater provides
> 31% of agricultural water, and is being depleted 160% faster than its
> replenishment rate in the U.S. A doubled U.S. population in 2055 will
> have only about 700 gallons of water per day/capita--the bare minimum for
> all human needs including agriculture.
>
> About 400 gallons of oil equivalents are used to feed each American
> for one year, about 17% of all energy used. Domestic oil production is
> declining by 500.000 barrels per year. Imports now comprise 54% of
> our consumption and will approach 100% in 20 years. 92% of U.S.
> energy needs are met by rapidly dwindling finite fuels like oil.
>
> Solar energy, which is renewable would require about 20% of total U.S.
> land area to meet just half of current domestic energy consumption.
>
> The chief culprit in this grim future of declining agricultural
> production and variety, rapidly increasing food prices, and severe water and
> energy shortages and cutbacks is our domestic population growth. Sixty
> percent of the net increase of 3 million per year is caused by foreign
> immigration, a portion that will rise to 90% in the coming decades, if current
> immigration law and enforcement are not changed.
>
> Dr. Pimentel will be available for interviews with the media on
> Thursday, October 30 and Friday, October 31 as well as at the news
> conference in Washington. D.C.
>
> Copies of "U.S Food Production Threatened By Rapid Population Growth!"
> are available free of charge for the news media and $12 for all others from
> CCN;
> 2000 P Street, NW; Suite 240; Washington, D.C. 20038.
>
> Carrying capacity Network is a national, non-profit organization which
> advocates national revitalization, economic sustainability, population
> stabilization, resource conservation, and immigration reduction as
> essential components of solutions to the economic, social and
> environmental challenges facing America today.
> ========
> Future water and energy shortages predicted to change face of American
> > agriculture
> >
> > FOR RELEASE: Aug. 7, 1997
> >
> > Contact: Roger Segelken
> > Office: (607) 255-9736
> > E-Mail: [1]hrs2@cornell.edu
> >
> > MONTREAL -- From one ecologist's perspective, the American system
> > of farming grain-fed livestock consumes resources far out of proportion
> > to the yield, accelerates soil erosion, affects world food supply and
> > will be changing in the future.
> >
> > "If all the grain currently fed to livestock in the United States were
> > consumed directly by people, the number of people who could be fed
> > would be nearly 800 million," David Pimentel, professor of ecology in
> > Cornell University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences,
> > reported at the July 24-26 meeting of the Canadian Society of Animal
> > Science in Montreal. Or, if those grains were exported, it would boost
> > the U.S. trade balance by $80 billion a year, Pimentel estimated.
> >
> > With only grass-fed livestock, individual Americans would still get
> > more than the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of meat and dairy
> > protein, according to Pimentel's report, "Livestock Production: Energy
> > Inputs and the Environment."
> >
> > An environmental analyst and longtime critic of waste and inefficiency
> > in agricultural practices, Pimentel depicted grain-fed livestock
> > farming as a costly and nonsustainable way to produce animal protein.
> > He distinguished grain-fed meat production from pasture-raised
> > livestock, calling cattle-grazing a more reasonable use of marginal
> > land.
> >
> > Animal protein production requires more than eight times as much
> > fossil-fuel energy than production of plant protein while yielding
> > animal protein that is only 1.4 times more nutritious for humans than
> > the comparable amount of plant protein, according to the Cornell
> > ecologist's analysis.
> >
> > Tracking food animal production from the feed trough to the dinner
> > table, Pimentel found broiler chickens to be the most efficient use of
> > fossil energy, and beef, the least. Chicken meat production consumes
> > energy in a 4:1 ratio to protein output; beef cattle production
> > requires an energy input to protein output ratio of 54:1. (Lamb meat
> > production is nearly as inefficient at 50:1, according to the
> > ecologist's analysis of U.S. Department of Agriculture statistics.
> > Other ratios range from 13:1 for turkey meat and 14:1 for milk protein
> > to 17:1 for pork and 26:1 for eggs.)
> >
> > Animal agriculture is a leading consumer of water resources in the
> > United States, Pimentel noted. Grain-fed beef production takes 100,000
> > liters of water for every kilogram of food. Raising broiler chickens
> > takes 3,500 liters of water to make a kilogram of meat. In comparison,
> > soybean production uses 2,000 liters for kilogram of food produced;
> > rice, 1,912; wheat, 900; and potatoes, 500 liters. "Water shortages
> > already are severe in the Western and Southern United States and the
> > situation is quickly becoming worse because of a rapidly growing U.S.
> > population that requires more water for all of its needs, especially
> > agriculture," Pimentel observed.
> >
> > Livestock are directly or indirectly responsible for much of the soil
> > erosion in the United States, the ecologist determined. On lands where
> > feed grain is produced, soil loss averages 13 tons per hectare per
> > year. Pasture lands are eroding at a slower pace, at an average of 6
> > tons per hectare per year. But erosion may exceed 100 tons on severely
> > overgrazed pastures, and 54 percent of U.S. pasture land is being
> > overgrazed.
> >
> > "More than half the U.S. grain and nearly 40 percent of world grain is
> > being fed to livestock rather than being consumed directly by humans,"
> > Pimentel said. "Although grain production is increasing in total, the
> > per capita supply has been decreasing for more than a decade. Clearly,
> > there is reason for concern in the future."
> >
> > EIGHT MEATY FACTS ABOUT ANIMAL FOOD
> >
> > >From "Livestock Production: Energy Inputs and the Environment"
> >
> > By David Pimentel
> >
> > -- WHERE'S THE GRAIN? The 7 billion livestock animals in the United
> > States consume five times as much grain as is consumed directly by the
> > entire American population.
> >
> > -- HERBIVORES ON THE HOOF. Each year an estimated 41 million tons of
> > plant protein is fed to U.S. livestock to produce an estimated 7
> > million tons of animal protein for human consumption. About 26 million
> > tons of the livestock feed comes from grains and 15 million tons from
> > forage crops. For every kilogram of high-quality animal protein
> > produced, livestock are fed nearly 6 kg of plant protein.
> >
> > -- FOSSIL FUEL TO FOOD FUEL. On average, animal protein production in
> > the U.S. requires 28 kilocalories (kcal) for every kcal of protein
> > produced for human consumption. Beef and lamb are the most costly, in
> > terms of fossil fuel energy input to protein output at 54:1 and 50:1,
> > respectively. Turkey and chicken meat production are the most
> > efficient (13:1 and 4:1, respectively). Grain production, on average,
> > requires 3.3 kcal of fossil fuel for every kcal of protein produced.
> > The U.S. now imports about 54 percent of its oil; by the year 2015,
> > that import figure is expected to rise to 100 percent.
> >
> > -- THIRSTY PRODUCTION SYSTEMS. U.S. agriculture accounts for 87
> > percent of all the fresh water consumed each year. Livestock directly
> > use only 1.3 percent of that water. But when the water required for
> > forage and grain production is included, livestock's water usage rises
> > dramatically. Every kilogram of beef produced takes 100,000 liters of
> > water. Some 900 liters of water go into producing a kilogram of wheat.
> > Potatoes are even less "thirsty," at 500 liters per kilogram.
> >
> > -- HOME ON THE RANGE. More than 302 million hectares of land are
> > devoted to producing feed for the U.S. livestock population -- about
> > 272 million hectares in pasture and about 30 million hectares for
> > cultivated feed grains.
> >
> > -- DISAPPEARING SOIL. About 90 percent of U.S. cropland is losing soil
> > -- to wind and water erosion -- at 13 times above the sustainable
> > rate. Soil loss is most severe in some of the richest farming areas;
> > Iowa loses topsoil at 30 times the rate of soil formation. Iowa has
> > lost one-half its topsoil in only 150 years of farming -- soil that
> > took thousands of years to form.
> >
> > -- PLENTY OF PROTEIN: Nearly 7 million tons (metric) of animal protein
> > is produced annually in the U.S. -- enough to supply every American
> > man, woman and child with 75 grams of animal protein a day. With the
> > addition of 34 grams of available plant protein, a total of 109 grams
> > of protein is available per capita. The RDA (recommended daily
> > allowance) per adult per day is 56 grams of protein for a mixed diet.
> >
> > -- OUT TO PASTURE. If all the U.S. grain now fed to livestock were
> > exported and if cattlemen switched to grass-fed production systems,
> > less beef would be available and animal protein in the average
> > American diet would drop from 75 grams to 29 grams per day. That, plus
> > current levels of plant-protein consumption, would still yield more
> > than the RDA for protein.
>
> *************************
> Lisa Bauer
> Communications Specialist
> North Central Region SARE
> 13A Activities Bldg.
> University of Nebraska
> Lincoln, NE 68583-0840
>
> 402-472-0265
> 402-472-0280 (fax)
> sare003@unlvm.unl.edu
> http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/ncrsare
>
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