In the early 2000s, Arjen Hoekstra created the water footprint concept. A water footprint, like a carbon or ecological footprint, shows how much water was used in a process or activity. When you think about all the farming, packaging, and shipping that goes into making the food we eat, the results are shocking. A surprising amount of water is used to get food from farms to our tables. Beef uses the most water of all the foods we eat.
The process of making beef and other animal products usually needs more water than making fruits and vegetables. This is because cattle have mouths to feed. Denver Water says that over the course of its life, a beef cow eats thousands of pounds of grass, corn, and soybeans. All of these crops need water to grow. It makes sense then that beef cattle meat has a much bigger water footprint than meat from other, smaller animals.
Beef is a staple food for many people around the world The savory taste and satisfying texture make it a go-to ingredient in dishes like burgers, steaks, tacos, meatballs and more.
But behind that juicy burger patty lies an immense amount of resources used to raise cattle and produce beef, One of the most staggering resources is the huge volume of water required per pound of beef produced
When we dig into the numbers, it becomes clear just how water-intensive beef is relative to other foods. Understanding beef’s large water footprint can help consumers make informed choices about their diets and environmental impacts.
In this article, we’ll explore the key questions:
- How much water does it take to produce one pound of beef?
- Why does beef have such a massive water footprint compared to other foods?
- What are the main types of water usage in beef production?
- How does beef compare to other meats like chicken and pork in terms of water usage?
Let’s dive in and get to the bottom of how much water goes into putting steak on the table!
The Staggering Water Footprint of Beef Production
So how much water does a pound of beef actually require from farm to plate?
- It takes approximately 1,847 gallons of water to produce 1 pound of beef — that’s enough water to fill 39 bathtubs all the way to the top.
To visualize it another way:
- 1,847 gallons is the equivalent of taking 99 eight-minute showers.
- It’s enough to wash over 350 loads of laundry.
- It can fill 180 standard bathtubs to the brim.
These numbers are pretty mind-blowing when you consider that’s the water needed for just one burger patty’s worth of edible meat.
Beef has one of the largest water footprints of any common food product. Only a few foods like chocolate and almonds exceed beef in terms of water demand per pound.
Compared to beef, here are some examples of the water needed for other foods:
- 1 pound of pork: 576 gallons
- 1 pound of chicken: 468 gallons
- 1 pound of rice: 402 gallons
- 1 pound of apples: 83 gallons
Pound for pound, beef requires significantly more water to produce than other meats and plants. This major discrepancy creates an enormous water demand for the beef industry.
Why Does It Take So Much Water to Produce Beef?
Given how much water beef uses, you might ask — why is the water footprint of beef so much higher than other foods?
There are a few key reasons why beef production is so water-intensive:
Cattle Consume Vast Quantities of Feed and Water
Cattle eat tremendous amounts of feed over their lifetimes. Raising cattle for beef is a multi-year process, and providing food for their growth accounts for the majority of beef’s water usage.
The components of a cow’s feed, like corn, soy, hay and alfalfa, all require substantial water to grow. For example:
- 2,500-2,700 gallons of water go into producing just 1 bushel of corn.
- Over 500 gallons of water is needed for 1 pound of alfalfa hay.
In addition to eating 30-50 pounds of feed per day, cattle drink vast quantities of water — around 20-30 gallons per animal each day.
Over the course of their lives, the feed and water cattle consume adds up to huge volumes of water. Significantly more than chickens or pigs require.
Inefficient Feed to Meat Conversion
Here’s an astonishing fact — cattle require around 7-10 pounds of feed to gain just 1 additional pound of body weight.
They are incredibly inefficient at converting feed into edible meat compared to other livestock like pigs and chickens.
This low feed efficiency means cattle must eat far more food to reach market weight. And the more feed consumed, the larger beef’s water footprint grows.
Water Used in Processing and Transportation
In addition to feed and drinking water, beef production utilizes water for:
- Processing and cleaning in slaughterhouses
- Watering cattle during transport
- Fuel production to ship beef to retailers
- Cleaning and sanitizing equipment
Each step in the beef supply chain depends heavily on water even beyond just raising cattle. All these uses contribute to the final tally of water used per pound produced.
Comparing Beef’s Water Footprint to Other Meats
While all meat production is relatively water-intensive, beef stands out from the pack.
Here’s how the main types of meat stack up in terms of water demand:
- Beef: approximately 1,847 gallons of water per pound
- Pork: around 576 gallons per pound
- Chicken: about 468 gallons per pound
Beef’s water footprint blows away pork’s and chicken’s. Experts estimate beef requires about 6 times as much water as pork and chicken pound-for-pound.
Again, this vast difference comes back to biological factors like cattle’s higher feed intake and poor feed conversion efficiency.
However, the way cattle are raised also plays a role. For example, pasture-raised or grass-fed cattle may have lower water footprints than conventional feedlot cattle.
The Types of Water Used in Beef Production
We can break down the water used for beef production into three main categories:
Green Water
Green water refers to rainfall that feeds the growth of grazing lands and cattle feed crops. Green water makes up around 90% of beef’s total water use.
Since most cattle begin by grazing pasture and their feed comes from rain-fed crop fields, green water accounts for the large majority of water used.
Blue Water
Blue water represents surface and groundwater like lakes, rivers and aquifers used for animal drinking and crop irrigation. Blue water makes up about 9% of beef’s water footprint.
The exact blue water usage depends heavily on whether cattle feed crops are irrigated and the irrigation methods used.
Grey Water
Grey water is any polluted water resulting from fertilizers, manure waste, and meat processing. Grey water constitutes about 1% of total water used for beef.
Properly managing and treating grey water is crucial for mitigating beef production’s environmental impact.
How Can Consumers Reduce Beef’s Water Impact?
The water footprint behind that juicy burger is clearly substantial. But consumers do have options to help lighten beef’s water load.
Here are some effective strategies:
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Eat smaller portions of beef – Just reducing portion sizes makes a difference. Going full vegetarian isn’t necessary.
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Substitute other meats – Swap in chicken or pork occasionally since they have lower water demands.
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Choose grass-fed/pasture-raised beef – These systems have lower water footprints by relying primarily on green water.
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Buy local and in season – This reduces transportation water costs and storage water usage.
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Don’t waste beef – Cutting down on spoilage and leftovers minimizes water wasted on uneaten food.
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Go meatless once a week – One vegetarian day per week significantly cuts household beef consumption.
Through mindful adjustments, we can balance enjoying delicious beef while also reducing its strain on global freshwater resources. Small changes by many adds up to real impact.
Beef’s Water Usage Must Be Understood to Be Managed
The sheer amount of water used in beef production can be staggering, but numbers only tell part of the story.
To get the whole picture, we need to understand:
- The breakdown of water usage including rainwater, surface/groundwater and pollution.
- How cattle compare to other meats in water demand and why.
- Opportunities for consumers, farmers and industry to increase freshwater sustainability.
While beef will always have a relatively high water footprint, improvements can be made through technology, production practices and consumer habits.
In a water-stressed world, truly grasping beef’s real water footprint empowers both producers and consumers to make choices that help stretch our most precious resource.
The next time you bite into a juicy burger or tender steak, take a moment to appreciate the immense amount of water that went into bringing that beef from pasture to plate. With knowledge comes power — the power to make informed decisions and nourish both our communities and the environment.
Industrial raised vs. pasture-raised
When raising beef cattle, two processes largely determine the amount and type of water supply it will take to turn a 1,000-pound-and-change cow into a neatly packaged burger patty: industrial-raised and pasture-raised processes. It might come as no surprise that in the United States, industrial processes that prioritize quick turnarounds are the norm, with 80% of beef cattle raised industrially (via FoodPrint). While time spent in industrial feedlots allows for rapid weight gain, its not without consequences like land use, waste, pollution, and stressed water supplies.
By comparison, pasture-raised cattle slow down production time because they take a longer time to gain weight. For grass-fed cattle, the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture says it takes between 24 and 28 months to reach market weight. The water footprint of pasture-raised beef is much smaller, though, because the cows eat grass that gets water from rain. Still, it doesnt mean its environmentally sound. Pasture-raised cattle not only take up a lot of space, but they also make more methane gas over the course of their lives because they grow slowly (via PubMed).
How much water is needed to produce a pound of beef?
FAQ
How much water does it take to make 1 lb of beef?
How much water does producing a single pound of meat require?
How many gallons of water does it take to raise one beef cow?
What percentage of beef is water?
How much water does beef use?
Over 90% of the water footprint for beef production is green water compared with 73% for pork and 79% for poultry. The blue and gray water footprint of beef is 158 gallons per pound compared with 146 gallons per pound for pork and 55 gallons per pound for poultry.
How much water does a pound of meat take to produce?
Include an ice-cold soda at 46, and this typical lunch took 206 gallons of water to produce. Click image to view larger version. Pound for pound, meat has a much higher water footprint than vegetables, grains or beans. 4 A single pound of beef takes, on average, 1,800 gallons of water to produce.
How much water does a pound of boneless beef use?
Water use estimates, or water footprints (defined as the amount of water used per unit of product), are available in the scientific literature and indicate that water footprints range from 317 1 up to 23,965 2 gallons per pound of boneless beef. Why is the range so large?
How much water does a cow need to produce a pound?
The council calculated that a cow needs eight gallons of drinking water to produce a pound of beef, but that did not account for feed production and processing. The agriculture community in areas hit by wildfires in Alberta are increasingly agitating to be able to access their livestock…