PPT Slide
Desertification of US West by grazing9
- Cattle graze 70% of west10 – but this generates only 2% of feed eaten by US cattle11
- 306 million acres public land for private ranching12
- Cow consumes thousands of pounds biomass not returned to land
- Not picky eater – strip land and ecosystems
- Dung hardens in sun and persists months or years – and kills what it covers
- Expense (1997) to ranchers to graze a steer on public land: $1.35/month13
- Many other costs – taxpayers pay for roads, fences, killing threatening wildlife, …