2 In the United States where land is cheap the ratio of land

2. In the United States, where land is cheap, the ratio of land to labor used in cattle raising is higher than that of land used in wheat growing. But in more crowded countries, where land is expensive and labor is cheap, it is common to raise cows by using less land and more labor than Americans use to grow wheat. Can.we still say that raising cattle is land-intensive compared with farming wheat? Why or why not?

Solution

The definition of cattle growing as land intensive depends on the ratio of land to labor

used in production, not on the ratio of land or labor to output. The ratio of land to labor in

cattle exceeds the ratio in wheat in the United States, implying cattle is land intensive in

the United States. Cattle is land intensive in other countries as well if the ratio of land to

labor in cattle production exceeds the ratio in wheat production in that country.

Comparisons between another country and the United States is less relevant for this

purpose.

Raising cattle is never more land intensive compared to growing wheat or other vegetable products, simply because grazing animals are inefficient producers of edible flesh. In countries where meat is used more as a condiment than as the main source of protein in the diet, half an acre is sufficient to grow food for one person. It takes eight times more land to produce meat than grain for the same amount of food energy, as outlined in the following article: