Since most crops are maintained using nitrogen fertilizer and herbicides, both of which contribute to the pollution of our land, these pollutants are contaminating nearby lakes, rivers, and streams - and eventually, the ocean.Įxcessive amounts of nutrients in the water can result in algal blooms and deplete oxygen levels in lakes and oceans, resulting in dead zones where fish, turtles, and other animals are unable to survive. To support these crops, one-third of arable land being used for feed production globally, using vast amounts of land and water resources.Ĭrop production also poses a serious threat to marine life and freshwater species. Soy is also commonly used in feed, with 75 percent of global soybean crops being fed to livestock. Those cattle, in addition to other feedlot animals like chickens and pigs, are consuming 70 percent of the grain grown in the U.S.Īccording to the USDA’s website, corn, barley, oats, and sorghum are used as major feed grains in the U.S., with corn “accounting for more than 95 percent of total feed grain and production use.” In the U.S., 36 percent of corn crops being used to feed livestock. consumed 24.8 billion pounds of beef, with the majority of that cattle being raised in massive feedlots. Most of Our Grain is Being Consumed by Animals, Not HumansĪpproximately 70 billion farm animals are being raised for food annually. And when you combine that with the amount of land used for grazing and housing animals, you’ll realize that we have a huge problem. Why? Because 33 percent of agricultural land worldwide is used solely for livestock feed production. According to the World Wildlife Fund, “around 50 percent of the world’s habitable land has been converted to farming land.” But when we think about agriculture, we need to look beyond the grasslands used for grazing livestock and the acres of land dedicated to massive farming operations, or even the land used to grow vegetables and grains for human consumption.
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