Deforestation
The forest comes down for pasture and feed
~80%Of Amazon deforestation tied to cattle ranching
Animals have to eat and drink, so we grow food for them. About 80% of our agriculture is animal feed — and there is still not enough, so forests are burned down to grow more. Millions of species and ecosystems are permanently extincted and destroyed, to be needlessly replaced with farm animals and animal feed. Cattle ranching accounts for about 80% of Amazon deforestation. About 80% of Amazon soy is eaten by farm animals, not by people. Put pasture and feed soy together and some tallies put animal agriculture near 90% of that forest loss. Globally, the inhumane and needless greed to eat cow flesh, when there are vegan substitutes that taste the same and use 90%+ less resources and water, is about 41% of commodity-driven deforestation — more than oil palm, soy for people, cocoa, or rubber. If you care about any animals or ecosystems on our planet, you would not be harming or eating any animals at all.
What the evidence says
The main points first. Every claim is tied to a source below.
We use 80% of farmland for feed — and still cut forest for more
Animals have to eat and drink, so we have to grow food to feed them. About 80% of our agriculture is animal feed, and there is not enough feed on the land we already farm — that is why forests are burned down to grow more. Millions of species and ecosystems are permanently extincted and destroyed, to be needlessly replaced with farm animals and animal feed. Most of our land, water, crops, and other resources go to feeding farm animals. It is infinitely more efficient to eat plants directly. We do not have to harm or eat animals at all.
Our World in Data · What are the drivers of deforestation?
About 80% of Amazon deforestation is cattle ranching
WWF: extensive cattle ranching is the number one cause of deforestation in virtually every Amazon country, and it accounts for about 80% of current deforestation. Yale’s forest work has used the same share. The pasture is the point of the chainsaw. Animals have to eat. The forest is where the extra feed and grazing come from.
Soy in the Amazon is mostly animal feed
Cattle and soy are the pair. Yale’s Global Forest Atlas: about 80% of Amazon soy is eaten by farm animals, not by people. When people add cattle pasture and feed soy together, animal agriculture is why most of that forest is gone — some tallies put the combined share near 90%.
Globally, the greed to eat cow flesh is the largest driver of forest loss
Our World in Data and WRI: cattle pasture replaced far more forest than oil palm, soy, cocoa, or rubber. Pendrill and colleagues put beef at about 41% of commodity-driven deforestation worldwide — the top slice. That is the inhumane and needless greed to eat cow flesh, when there are vegan substitutes that taste the same and use 90%+ less resources and water. The Amazon is the famous case. It is not the only one.
Our World in Data · if the world ate plants
A vegan world would free land the size of a continent
The same numbers as the Land page: a global shift to plants would cut farmland by about 75%, from about 4.1 billion hectares to about 1 billion. That is pasture and feed coming down. Forest can grow there again.
Sources
Papers and datasets. Caveats stay on the card — small samples and single animals included on purpose.
WWF · Review
WWF — unsustainable cattle ranching in the Amazon
Extensive cattle ranching is the number one culprit of deforestation in virtually every Amazon country, and it accounts for 80% of current deforestation.
Our World in Data · Review
Our World in Data — drivers of deforestation
Beef is the largest commodity driver of deforestation globally, about 41% of commodity-driven forest loss in Pendrill’s accounting. Cattle pasture replaced far more forest than palm oil or soy.
World Resources Institute · Observational
WRI Global Forest Review — cattle vs other commodities
Cattle pasture occupied about 45 million hectares of land deforested 2001–2015, 36% of agriculture-linked tree-cover loss in the analysis — five times any other commodity studied.
Yale Global Forest Atlas via reporting · Review
Amazon soy is mostly feed
Yale’s Global Forest Atlas, as cited in reporting: about 80% of Amazon soy is consumed by farm animals. Cattle plus feed soy is the pair behind most Amazon conversion.
Mongabay · Review
Mongabay — soy and cattle in the Brazilian Amazon
Soy cultivation and cattle ranching are the two biggest drivers of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. Pastures and croplands have replaced tens of millions of hectares of forest and savanna since 1985.
Science, 2018 · Meta-analysis
Poore & Nemecek — land and a vegan shift
A global plant-based diet would cut agricultural land use by about 75%. Most of the land that would come back is pasture.