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Kragkin t1_ixcfkbl wrote

Keep in mind, a lot of pasture land is either multi-use and/or unable to grow human food.

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vtTownie t1_ixcmp98 wrote

Yup, below ground resource extraction, wind and solar generation etc all take place on grazing land.

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cyberentomology t1_ixcrm7k wrote

Lot of that in Kansas. Grass is one of the best solar farms there is, using solar energy to convert CO2 into oxygen, H-C bonds (sugars and starches) and biomass (cellulose) and storing much of it underground.

The Kansas tallgrass prairie was probably one of the best carbon sinks on the planet (along with the Russian Steppes and the Argentine Pampas) and about 150 years ago, right about the time we really needed to not do so, 98% of it was plowed under, and the 60 million grazing animals that lived there were almost completely exterminated.

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cyberentomology t1_ixcqxak wrote

Pasture land is unable to be used for any other crops and so livestock becomes the best way to grow food from that land. Cattle are quite good at turning captured atmospheric carbon in the form of plant biomass and then turning it into protein, rendering that land quite productive while keeping the ecosystem going (they are a vital component of that grassland ecosystem) without having to mechanically work the land.

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BaldingMonk t1_ixdnwbg wrote

Yes, but the key here is to look at how much of the usable land goes to growing crops specifically meant to go to livestock (127.4 million acres vs for livestock feed vs 77.3 million acres for what we consume). When you combine this with the water use, waste and emissions from livestock, it's a huge waste.

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R_V_Z t1_ixdvmqw wrote

Or in the case of Nevada, irradiated.

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