isn't the corn based diet unique to the United States, since corn is a subsidize...

solardev · on July 17, 2022

It depends... some parts of Canada use corn, others use barley (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cattle_feeding#Country-specifi...).

In EU it's a mix: https://www.dairyherd.com/news/european-cows-eat-more-foreig... https://www.beefmagazine.com/americancowman/beef-and-busines...

In general different countries will "finish" their cattle with different grains. Only a few places have the right conditions to have their beef be grass-fed through its whole lifecycle.

bpodgursky · on July 18, 2022

I've heard stories of farmers dumping leftover Halloween candy for their dairy cattle during a hay shortage.

Not ideal, but I think cows are pretty flexible when it comes to cheap calories.

Edit: yea def happens https://money.cnn.com/2012/10/10/news/economy/farmers-cows-c...

colechristensen · on July 18, 2022

Regardless of subsidies, corn is a very efficient calories per acre crop if the land and climate supports it, which is somewhat uncommon.

randomdata · on July 18, 2022

Most crops are subsidized in the US. Corn is the largest crop thanks to it being relatively easy and efficient to grow.