Food vs feed

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Horses, cows and different livestock grazing on grass in the United Kingdom.
Livestock feeding on land in the United Kingdom

Food vs. feed is the competition for resources between growing crops for human consumption and growing crops for animal feed.[1][2] Resources at stake include land, water sources, fertilizers, labor, and finances.[3]

At the center of this competition is the division of land. In many countries, livestock graze on land that is typically unsuitable for growing food crops for human consumption. It is estimated that there are three times as much agricultural land, which may be used for any agricultural purpose including grazing, as arable land, which can only be used for growing crops.[4][5]

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) uses the term food vs. feed in the livestock industry to compare crop inputs with protein outputs. For a given energetic output, crops for human consumption require less resources than crops for meat and dairy products.[5][6][7]

Global Impacts

Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Trade

According to the FAO, global emissions from agriculture are estimated at 5.4 billion metric tonnes of CO2eq.[8] Since the 1960s, international trade in animal feed and products has increased tenfold, as a result of the growing global demand for meat and dairy products. This increase in demand has been driven by population growth and the increasing popularity of animal-based protein diets, and it has intensified the need to allocate more land exclusively for feed production. Additionally, demand for crops intended for human consumption has risen with population growth. Global trade in vegetables has increased 7.5 times since the 1960s.[9] Besides the trade of crops, feeds, and animal products, the transportation of resources involved for crop cultivation, such as crop seeds, processed feed, fertilizers, pesticides, and other materials involved in the farming operations also contributes to CO2 emissions.[3][10]

Circular Agriculture

Pig Food - A women's voluntary service collecting kitchen waste to feed pigs, East Barnet, Hertfordshire, England 1943

Circular agriculture is a sustainable farming system that promotes waste cycling and resource preservation.[10] Farms that exclusively produce food crops or exclusively produce feed generate excess waste that contributes to environmental pollution.[8] In a circular agriculture system, wasted food can be used to feed livestock.[11][12] Not only can the food waste be redirected as feed, it can be composted into fertilizers to enrich the soil. Food waste utilized as feed reduces greenhouse gas emissions as the process decreases waste disposal and excessive feed production.

Unharvested crops, crop remnants, and other farm waste in landfills produce methane (CH4), a greenhouse gas that traps more heat than carbon dioxide (CO2). According to the MIT Climate Portal, methane traps 120 times more heat than carbon dioxide does in a given moment.[13] Methane is also produced by enteric fermentation and manure management in livestock operation.[8]

China and Beiqiu Farm

China alone produces 708 million metric tonnes of CO2eq, accounting for 13.5 percent of the global contribution and placing the country first in agricultural emissions. As a separate measure, livestock emissions amount to 150 million tonnes. Due to high demand for both crops and livestock, farms in the country have adopted more circular agricultural practices to better meet demand, such as onsite processing facilities that turn farm waste into feed and fertilizer.[8] Beiqiu Farm, located in Dezhou City in the Shandong Province of China, utilizes a circular agricultural system where it prioritizes both food crops and feed crops for the farm's livestock. Beiqiu Farm produces wheat and corn for both food production and livestock feed. Unsold crops are repurposed as feed, and a portion of the harvest is set aside from sales to ensure sufficient feed for livestock. Livestock manure and crop byproducts are repurposed as organic fertilizers through Beiqiu's onsite processing facility, ensuring that no waste is sent to landfills. This process lowers the farm's costs while also reducing excess greenhouse gas emissions produced on the farm.[8] Feeding livestock with onsite crops reduces emissions through eliminating the need to transport off-farm sources of feed.[10]

See also

References

  1. Manceron, Stéphane; Ben-Ari, Tamara; Dumas, Patrice (July 2014). "Feeding proteins to livestock: Global land use and food vs. feed competition". OCL. 21 (4): D408. doi:10.1051/ocl/2014020. ISSN 2272-6977.
  2. Steinfeld, H.; Opio, C. (2010). "The availability of feeds for livestock: Competition with human consumption in present world" (PDF). Advances in Animal Biosciences. 1 (2): 421. doi:10.1017/S2040470010000488.
  3. Muscat, A.; de Olde, E. M.; de Boer, I. J. M.; Ripoll-Bosch, R. (1 June 2020). "The battle for biomass: A systematic review of food-feed-fuel competition". Global Food Security. 25 100330. Bibcode:2020GlFS...2500330M. doi:10.1016/j.gfs.2019.100330. ISSN 2211-9124.
  4. "Agricultural land (% of land area)". World Bank. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
  5. "More Fuel for the Food/Feed Debate". UN FAO. 2017. Archived from the original on 21 September 2017. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  6. "Agriculture: Food vs. Feed". Science On a Sphere. 1 May 2012. Retrieved 6 March 2025.
  7. "Animal Production and Health Division (NSA)". www.fao.org. Retrieved 6 March 2025.
  8. Hang, Sheng; Li, Jing; Xu, Xiangbo; Lyu, Yun; Li, Yang; Gong, Huarui; Xu, Yan; Ouyang, Zhu (25 June 2021). "An Optimization Scheme of Balancing GHG Emission and Income in Circular Agriculture System". Sustainability. 13 (13): 7154. Bibcode:2021Sust...13.7154H. doi:10.3390/su13137154. ISSN 2071-1050.
  9. Lassaletta, Luis; Billen, Gilles; Garnier, Josette; Bouwman, Lex; Velazquez, Eduardo; Mueller, Nathaniel D; Gerber, James S (1 September 2016). "Nitrogen use in the global food system: past trends and future trajectories of agronomic performance, pollution, trade, and dietary demand". Environmental Research Letters. 11 (9) 095007. Bibcode:2016ERL....11i5007L. doi:10.1088/1748-9326/11/9/095007. ISSN 1748-9326.
  10. Rodino, Steliana; Pop, Ruxandra; Sterie, Cristina; Giuca, Andreea; Dumitru, Eduard (25 October 2023). "Developing an Evaluation Framework for Circular Agriculture: A Pathway to Sustainable Farming". Agriculture. 13 (11): 2047. Bibcode:2023Agric..13.2047R. doi:10.3390/agriculture13112047. ISSN 2077-0472.
  11. Van Zanten, Hannah H. E.; Van Ittersum, Martin K.; De Boer, Imke J. M. (1 June 2019). "The role of farm animals in a circular food system". Global Food Security. 21: 18–22. Bibcode:2019GlFS...21...18V. doi:10.1016/j.gfs.2019.06.003. ISSN 2211-9124.
  12. El Janati, Mustapha; Akkal-Corfini, Nouraya; Bouaziz, Ahmed; Oukarroum, Abdallah; Robin, Paul; Sabri, Ahmed; Chikhaoui, Mohamed; Thomas, Zahra (23 April 2021). "Benefits of Circular Agriculture for Cropping Systems and Soil Fertility in Oases". Sustainability. 13 (9): 4713. Bibcode:2021Sust...13.4713E. doi:10.3390/su13094713. ISSN 2071-1050.
  13. "What makes methane a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide? | MIT Climate Portal". climate.mit.edu. Retrieved 21 March 2025.