Why can’t we grow livestock feed in areas with more abundant water?

Question

I saw [this](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/05/22/climate/colorado-river-water.html) article today which mentions that 55% of water usage in the west is used for livestock feed. Is there a reason we can’t grow this feed in different parts of the country with more abundant water?

In: 3

Answer 1

The thing to remember is that a lot of that feed is just the grass and hay that the farmers grow on their land to feed their own livestock.

So, if you decide to grow all that hay elsewhere, you might as well move the livestock too (since that would be cheaper than paying to transport all of that feed).