Some numbers for discussion purposes.

http://beef2live.com/story-world-beef-cattle-statistics-0-108033

numbers are a mix of 2013 and 2014

Number, Country, tonnes, percentage

Beef Production
1, America , 11,230,000, 19.08%
2, Brazil, 9,920,000, 16.85%
3, European Union, 7,580,000, 12.88%
4, China, 5,760,000, 9.79%
5, India, 4,000,000, 6.80%
6, Argentina, 2,900,000, 4.93%
7, Australia, 2,240,000, 3.81%
8, Mexico, 1,820,000, 3.09%
9, Pakistan, 1,675,000, 2.85%
10, Russia, 1,380,000, 2.34%

Beef Consumption
1, United States, 11,292,000, 19.90%
2, Brazil, 7,905,000, 13.93%
3, European Union, 7,495,000, 13.21%
4, China, 7,305,000, 12.87%
5, Argentina, 2,500,000, 4.41%
6, Russia, 2,112,000, 3.72%
7, India, 2,100,000, 3.70%
8, Mexico, 1,845,000, 3.25%
9, Pakistan, 1,661,000, 2.93%
10, Japan, 1,228,000, 2.16%

Beef exports
1, India, 2,400,000, 23.53%
2, Brazil, 2,005,000, 19.66%
3, Australia, 1,590,000, 15.59%
4, United States, 1,098,000, 10.76%
5, New Zealand, 555,000, 5.44%
6, Paraguay, 440,000, 4.31%
7, Canada, 375,000, 3.68%
8, EU, 310,000, 3.04%
9, Belarus, 225,000, 2.21%
10, Mexico, 210,000, 2.06%

Beef imports
1, United States, 1,930,000, 64.33%
2, Venezuela, 630,000, 21.00%
3, Russia, 130,000, 4.33%
4, China, 120,000, 4.00%
5, Egypt, 100,000, 3.33%
6, Canada, 55,000, 1.83%
7, Mexico, 16,000, 0.53%
8, Japan, 15,000, 0.50%
9, Ukraine, 3,000, 0.10%
10, Belarus, 1,000, 0.03%

Most produced foods
1, Sugar cane, 1,911,179,775, 21.41%
2, Corn, 1,018,111,958, 11.40%
3, Rice, paddy, 740,902,532, 8.30%
4, Wheat, 715,909,258, 8.02%
5, Milk, Cow, 635,575,895, 7.12%
6, Potatoes, 376,452,524, 4.22%
7, Vegetables, fresh , 280,310,040, 3.14%
8, Cassava, 276,762,059, 3.10%
9, Soybeans, 276,032,362, 3.09%
10, Sugar beet, 246,521,602, 2.76%
11, Tomatoes, 163,963,770, 1.84%
12, Barley, 143,959,778, 1.61%
13, Pork, 112,333,009, 1.26%
14, Watermelons, 109,278,714, 1.22%
15, Bananas, 106,714,205, 1.20%
16, Sweet potatoes, 103,109,367, 1.15%
17, Chicken, 96,337,658, 1.08%
18, Onions, dry, 85,795,191, 0.96%
19, Apples, 80,822,521, 0.91%
20, Milk, Buffalo, 80,108,460, 0.90%
21, Grapes, 77,181,122, 0.86%
22, Rapeseed, 72,699,608, 0.81%
23, Oranges, 71,445,353, 0.80%
24, Cabbages , 71,436,600, 0.80%
25, Cucumbers, 71,365,573, 0.80%
26, Eggs, hen, 68,262,486, 0.76%
27, Beef, 63,361,528, 0.71%
28, Yams, 63,050,634, 0.71%
29, Coconuts, 62,450,192, 0.70%
30, Sorghum, 62,295,137, 0.70%
31, Oil, palm, 54,384,643, 0.61%
32, Eggplants , 49,418,212, 0.55%
33, Cottonseed, 47,076,689, 0.53%
34, Groundnuts, with shell, 45,654,289, 0.51%
35, Sunflower seed, 44,551,095, 0.50%
36, Mangoes, 43,300,070, 0.48%
37, Plantains, 37,877,805, 0.42%
38, Carrots, 37,226,640, 0.42%
39, Fruit, fresh, 33,519,326, 0.38%
40, Chillies, green, 31,131,226, 0.35%
41, Millet, 29,864,147, 0.33%
42, Melons, other , 29,462,542, 0.33%
43, Tangerines, 28,678,214, 0.32%
44, Pears, 25,203,754, 0.28%
45, Lettuce, 24,896,116, 0.28%
46, Pineapples, 24,785,762, 0.28%
47, Pumpkins, 24,679,859, 0.28%
48, Cotton lint, 24,543,551, 0.27%
49, Garlic, 24,255,303, 0.27%
50, Oats, 23,880,997, 0.27%

Most produced foods (by value)
1, Milk, Cow, $198,338,449,276, 9.88%
2, Rice, paddy, $190,576,416,113, 9.50%
3, Pork, $172,682,907,041, 8.61%
4, Beef, $171,163,310,870, 8.53%
5, Chicken, $137,224,034,261, 6.84%
6, Wheat, $85,942,102,553, 4.28%
7, Soybeans, $69,476,638,751, 3.46%
8, Corn, $67,126,425,378, 3.35%
9, Sugar cane, $60,784,342,858, 3.03%
10, Tomatoes, $59,884,397,372, 2.98%
11, Eggs, hen, $56,616,155,167, 2.82%
12, Potatoes, $49,460,870,896, 2.46%
13, Vegetables, fresh, $47,565,545,387, 2.37%
14, Grapes, $44,118,041,369, 2.20%
15, Cotton lint, $35,077,740,593, 1.75%
16, Apples, $33,860,008,144, 1.69%
17, Milk, buffalo, $31,952,941,549, 1.59%
18, Bananas, $29,740,293,396, 1.48%
19, Cassava, $27,212,109,634, 1.36%
20, Mangoes, $25,942,441,482, 1.29%
21, Oil, palm, $23,660,419,630, 1.18%
22, Sheep Meat, $23,336,785,252, 1.16%
23, Groundnuts, $19,757,353,581, 0.98%
24, Onions, dry, $17,992,359,598, 0.90%
25, Mushrooms, $17,910,807,821, 0.89%
26, Rapeseed, $17,764,547,816, 0.89%
27, Olives, $16,331,698,501, 0.81%
28, Eggs, other bird, $16,129,482,456, 0.80%
29, Chillies, green, $14,655,273,484, 0.73%
30, Yams, $14,266,235,735, 0.71%
31, Cucumbers, $13,844,307,739, 0.69%
32, Oranges, $13,805,435,880, 0.69%
33, Rubber, natural, $13,686,953,176, 0.68%
34, Goat Meat, $12,863,597,857, 0.64%
35, Garlic, $12,759,099,893, 0.64%
36, Tobacco, unm., $11,842,307,859, 0.59%
37, Peaches , $11,780,570,730, 0.59%
38, Fruit, fresh nes, $11,699,023,703, 0.58%
39, Lettuce, $11,638,752,916, 0.58%
40, Watermelons, $11,490,609,971, 0.57%
41, Cottonseed, $11,440,703,123, 0.57%
42, Beans, dry, $11,346,581,479, 0.57%
43, Sunflower seed, $11,056,211,538, 0.55%
44, Eggplants, $10,565,712,562, 0.53%
45, Strawberries, $10,504,827,009, 0.52%
46, Pears, $10,293,447,122, 0.51%
47, Sugar beet, $10,099,341,892, 0.50%
48, Buffalo Meat, $10,001,476,124, 0.50%
49, Cabbages, $9,775,139,367, 0.49%
50, Coffee, green, $9,584,193,323, 0.48%

stats for land usage.

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2097.html

More actual stats than you can shake a shitty stick at:

https://www.soilassociation.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=G_VxlYCOO5c%3D&tabid=313

killer statement that needs to be remembered because it fundamentally undermines much of what cow conspiracy etc. claim:

“Large areas of the UK cannot reasonably produce food for people without cattle or sheep”

ninfan – Member
More actual stats than you can shake a shitty stick at:

https://www.soilassociation.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=G_VxlYCOO5c%3D&tabid=313

The question is relevant to locality and practice no doubt about that, but it’s not just a uk issue. The water issue for example is completely irrelvant in the uk.

I suspect without really looking at that, that the uk farming is better than corn fed american farming for instance. It’s a global issue though that need to be discussed in a context wider than just the uk.

How you affect countries externally is a whole question in itself.

Cheers for that though, I’ll have a gander! 🙂

I agree, its an international issue – US farming is far, far different from our own, but even there, some of the same arguments apply; for example is the land being used actually suitable for other forms of agriculture?

Add in the complexity of some of the arguments I think we’ve covered on here before (long term sustainability through rotational cropping systems, nitrogen fixation through fodder crops, fallow periods, grazing, environmental effect of grazing or slurry injection versus artificial fertilisers, etc. etc.) and I think you begin to discuss a vastly complex equation of positives and negatives that are unacceptably oversimplified by single issue campaigners.