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@sun @BroDrillard @ned @jeremiah let's do some math

1200 pound steer, you can expect a 740 – 770 pound carcass.

a steer drinks ~75 liters a day, and oldest at slaughter is going to be 2 years / 24 months

365 * 2 = 730 days

730 * 75 liters = 54,750

54,750 / 750 pounds = 73 liters for drinking water only

now let's do their feed

20 pounds grain mix per day is max, this is made of 30% oats 30% barley 40% corn

based on available data:

21 gallons / pound of corn = ~79 liters
290 gallons / pound of oats = 1,097 liters
~346 gallons / pound of barley = 1,310 liters

(1310 / 100) * 30 = 393 liters

(1097 / 100) * 30 = 329 liters

(79 / 100) * 40 = 31 liters

~ 753 liters / pound of grain mix

20 pounds per day * 753 liters = 15060 liters of water for feed inputs

15060 * 730 days of steer age = 10,993,800 liters

10,993,800 liters for all feed inputs / 750 pounds of beef = 14658 liters per pound

14658 feed + 73 liters of drinking water = 14731 liters per pound


seems pretty fucking close to 15,000 liters per pound of beef to me
@sun @BroDrillard @ned it's a fair statement, but it applies to literally all agriculture. The impact depends very much on the farming technique -- intense chemical-source corn feed vs. low-impact pasture grazing, and where -- sparse land with pumped water vs. pastureland with bodies of water. That's before we get to things like processing, mileage, refrigeration, distribution.