Does it take more total energy to produce a pound of steak or produce a pound of grain?

Question

* the available energy at each trophic level and

* the producer-consumer relationship.

Answer 1

As you go up each trophic level you lose about 90% energy. Thus 100 calories of cow will require 1000 calories of grain. Meat is a highly inefficient food source.

Answer 2

To get a pound of state, you have to feed the animal about 10 pounds of grain, or equivalent in other form.

That should answer your question.

Answer 3

A pound of stake.

Energy decreases at each higher trophic level.

Cattle do not convert a pound of food to a pound of meat, of course -- they must eat many pounds of plants to produce a pound of meat.

The original idea was to have cattle and goats graze on land that couldn't be farmed - thus enabling exploitation of energy that humans couldn't otherwise utilize.