How does soybean production impact land use and erosion?
Soybean production generally requires anywhere from six to 17 times less land than meat production and at least five times less than intensive dairy operations (Reijnders and Soret, 2003). As for topsoil erosion, soybean crop production only erodes 400 tons per kilometer squared per pound of output compared to 8800 tons per km squared per pound of beef (Fiala, 2006). Reijnders L, Soret S. “Quantification of the environmental impact of different dietary protein choices” American Society for Clinical Nutrition, 2003. Fiala N. “Is Meat Sustainable? An Estimation of the Environmental Impact of Meat Consumption” Department of Economics, Univ. of California, 2006.
