Can land used for raising cattle grow crops?

Question

If everyone stopped eating beef- would the farmers be able to grow other crops on the land that was used to raise the cattle? In Australia there are vast areas of land used for sheep and cattle farming, would these areas be able to sustain other non-animal and still profitable crops?

Answer 1

Of course! you must be a Vegan and don't want your veggies grown from dirt fertilized by Cattle am I right.

Answer 2

some land is not considered useable for crops.. the soil is low in nutrients.. it can grow grass.. but people dont eat grass...

some land YES it can .. but also depends on water supply etc...

Answer 3

Short answer is no, the rangeland used to raise cattle and sheep on could not be used to grow crops.

I live in the U.S.A., in the Wild West, where there are HUGE sheep and cattle ranches.

The land these animals graze on is often completely un-suited to crops.  Three major problems..

1) Too steep and not enough flatland to be farmed with tractors.

2) Far too many rocks.  I'm talking about "rocks" the size of houses.

3) No water.

For the most part crops we grow need a lot of water (wheat is an exception).  If you live in an area that does not get plenty of rainfall, then you need to irregate the crops.  

Sheep and cattle can graze on native grasses that grow with the the natural rainfal of an area.  So sheep and cattle can (and are) raised where crops CANNOT be grown.

Besides, there's one other factor....ever think what during vast stretches of former grazing land into crop land would do to native wildlife?

Wildlife would suffer horribly if that was done.  In the U.S.A. the areas that domestic cattle graze, the cattle are filling in the spot left by the buffalo.  

In Australia, cattle are filling in the spot left by the vast mobs of kangaroos that once use to graze over vast areas of Australia.

Europeans came along, and killed off most of the buffalo, and kangaroos.  They brought their domestic cattle (sheep and goats) to fil in the vacancy left by the wild animals.  Taking away the cattle, sheep, and goats and turning it into crop land would actually lead to the extinction of many wild animals.

~Garnet

Homesteading/Farming over 20 years

Answer 4

After cleanup, a ranch can be turned into a farm. In fact, much of the wast from the animals is good for the soil. Farms for the most part use less water, but animals can drink stuff that kills plants. Australia is a very dry and has poor soils in many parts. So when the animal enrichment is gone so would the farm. this is the problem with slash and burn farming in the rain forest. A few years later and nothing will grow. If you cut down a big enough part, even the rain is gone, like in Indonesia.

We have the technology to move past the carbon debate. We do not have time to go through the government red tape, government has to change. Without governments mandating renewable resources that do not harm the environment, we are doomed. We have to take the time to get it right. With oil on the decline, we have to make massive changes, swiftly. But we can not do this twice, or three times - like in the past; we have to put our money in the best return on investments and where we get multiple benefits. We can not redo this one. We have had most of this technology for 20 years but have not implemented it. We know what is cost effective; we know where we need better technology. The fossil fuel depression with global warming will be the worst economic downturn in world history. But this is not doom and gloom; we have the ability to fix our mess and enough time. Solar Concentrating Electric Power Plants, wind, wave, small hydro-electric, geothermal, and nuclear energy are what we need. We must have a pollution surcharge where we pay the real price (health effects, global warming and cleanup) for oil, natural gas, coal, cigarettes, cooling towers, cars, trains and airplanes. Raising the price of fossil fuel today gives us more time to solve these problems and helps pay for the 20 Trillion Dollars worth of renewable energy over the next 10 years. Remember knowledge is power and this information is very powerful. Humans have 50 trillion dollars worth of stuff that runs on cheep oil, natural gas, or coal.

I attended the Focus the Nation at Sierra College on. The event was the 2% Solution, a 2% reduction over 40 years to solve global warming. Oil is a nonrenewable resource and we are running out-but not soon – anyone willing to pay $30 per gallon for gas. The problem is the oil will be gone in less than 30 years at present rates of consumption without projected increases and shortages (gone at least to run cars, heat homes, power electric plants or air travel). The 2% Solution is ok for the USA for a 10 year plan to cut 20%, but I would prefer a 5% Solution over the next 10 years for a 50% reduction. At the same time, we have to be building renewable energy so at the end of 10 years we can cut an additional 20%. With the peak of oil in the 1970’s, peak natural gas in the 1990’s, having mined cheep coal, the peak of ocean fishing in the 1980’s, and the peak of uranium in the 1990’s, humans must stop procrastinating and make real changes to keep earth sustainable including in the energy debate, finance and regulation. Global warming projects over the next 90 years that carbon dioxide will skyrocket as human’s burn more fossil fuels, but where is this fuel? We have to come up with what will take its place and cleanup our mess. One of the big problems we have is at some time Yellowstone will blow its top again, as the magma move closer to the surface, creating a nuclear winter. After that we will not have to worry about the destruction of the ozone layer, global warming or pollution.

Many of mankind’s advancements cause earth surface to warm, destroy the ozone layer, kill off endanger species, heat cities, and in some way cause more dramatic destruction.  Blacktop and buildings (roads, roofs and parking lots-heat cities), deforestation (air pollution, soil erosion), duststorms (increase hurricanes and cyclones, cause lung diseases), fires (cause pollution, mud slides, and deforestation), refrigerants (like CFC's) and solvents (including benzene destroy the ozone layer raising skin cancer rates) and plastics; cars, airplanes, ships and most electricity production (causes pollution including raised CO2 levels and increased lung and other diseases); these human problems we must fix to keep life on earth sustainable! Humans have destroyed half of the wetlands, cut down nearly half of the rain and other forests, and advance on the earths grasslands while advancing desertification which increases duststorms.

The result is:  change is on the way, we just do not know what changes (where and when). Look beyond the hype, beyond the weather, beyond a quarterly report and beyond today. President Bush has made a choice of energy (ethanol) over food and feeding the starving people around the world; this is a choice China has rejected. The fact is Bush wants to buy food from out side the USA to send to starving people since our grain is not available.

But with that we must understand we have never seen what is now happening before. CO2 has never lead to temperature change, but temperature change has led to increases in CO2. The models have to be made as we go along with current evidence! But again adding a small amount of CO2 to the atmosphere enlarges the earths sun collection causing warming; increase water in the atmosphere and it forms clouds cooling earth but sometimes causing flooding. Even natural events are warming earth and causing destruction. The sun has an increased magnetic field causing increases in earthquakes (more destruction), volcanoes (wow, great destruction), and sun spots. Lighting produces ozone near the surface (raising air pollution levels). The USA Mayor's have taken a stand and I believe are on the right track, we can have control and can have economic growth. The sun is available to produce energy, bring light to buildings and makes most of human’s fresh water. Composting is the answer to desertification. New dams are the answer to fresh water storage, energy and cooling earth by evaporation, we need many small ones all over (California needs 100 by 2012 and we are far behind).

Now what USA Presidential candidate is giving you the facts so you can make an educated decision of which one to vote for?

Education is why I founded CoolingEarth.org, a geoengineering web sight where you can learn more about earth, the atmosphere, and how to sustain life on earth’s surface. Watch for changes in the sight coming soon.

Answer 5

Your point?

Answer 6

Yes it can, but at a cost to the nations food supply. Cattle graze in these areas for a reason.