Dude, I've told you what to google. It's not my fault you don't know one of the fundamental facts about the world. I'm not a scientist - and barely understand how it works. I barely know how Microwaves work - but I use them every day and know they're a thing. You're only alive because of Haber Bosch and are now pretending it's not really a thing and you just 'don't get' how it works.

Try and count the energy here! Basically, we spray nitrogen on the ground - hope plants grow - and then the sun and rain do the rest. But how much energy did it take to make that nitrogen?

"Due to the consumption of natural gas as an energy source and as feedstock in ammonia production, the price of N fertilizer is typically related to supply and price of natural gas. A modern ammonia production plant requires net energy consumption of approximately 29.7 million BTUs per ton of N (Kongshaug and Jenssen). Upgrading ammonia to other N fertilizers requires even more energy: 35.9 million and 31.4 million million BTUs per ton for urea and urea/ ammonium nitrate manufacture, respectively."

https://store.extension.iastate.edu/Product/Energy-Conservation-in-Corn-Nitrogen-Fertilization-Farm-Energy-PDF

I guess they've basically counted how much energy makes how many tons of fertiliser - and then how many tons of fertiliser grows how many tons of grain.

Also, I didn't say ALL food took that much energy to grow - just foods that need nitrogen fertiliser. So our most important grains, and any poultry or beef that also eats those grains!

It's the kind of thing that ONLY works because fossil fuels have been so incredibly cheap. Fortunately for us, solar and storage will soon be cheaper than fossil fuels. Get your money out of coal superannuation - as coal is about to go the way of Kodak film.

Aidan it is ingenious to talk about the American cattle production system in the Australian context. I have finally managed to get 18 if my neighbors cattle out of my place. They have been here since the last flood damaged the boundary fence.

They are the biggest fattest cattle I have ever seen, & not a single grain of corn, or barley/oats/wheat, or any other grain has ever entered their mouths. They have eaten the natural grass, so prolific this year & the last couple because of La Nina driven rain through our winters has produced masses of grass in this usual lean time of year.

Running a herd of cattle on a few hundred acres of forest grazing country is an immensely efficient way of producing food, much more cost, energy & labour effective than any other way of producing the food needed on that sort of country.

I am considering planting Lemon Myrtles for oil production, & Silky Oaks for cabinet timber production. But you have to be so careful today, a mate of mine planted 40 acres to cabinet timber production almost 40 years ago. He is now having trouble harvesting them as the council, listening to some greeny ratbags is claiming they are pristine native forest & must be preserved.

Hasbeen,
I'm really glad to hear of your grass-fed beef. It requires longer to mature - and you get less of the final product if it's done properly. But the flavour is so much better than the fatty grain-fed American stuff!

But grass fed can also be much more expensive as a result.

It will be disrupted by vastly 'greener' fermented beef alternatives within 5 years. Given this stuff is meant to be cheaper than Soy protein by 2025 - I'm predicting beef burger patties will mainly be made from this vat-grown stuff in 5 years. There's already Remilk in Israel that's received huge investment to start pumping out alternative milk.

Some say beer started civilisation - in that it allowed us to get more calories out of indigestible parts of the grain. Now we're domesticating the micro-world - and it will be 10 to 100 times more efficient than today's food processes. (Depending on sector of course.)