Question

Understanding the productivity of an area is important in many different fields. Take the case of 2 farmers. Each farmer must not have more animals than he can afford to support. Suppose that the first farmer has caged cows that each eat 2.0 lbs. of cattle feed per day per cow, while the second has free range cows which each eat 2.0 lbs. of grass per day per cow. In this case, grass produces 365 lbs. of grass per year per square meter, and cattle feed cost $1.00 per lb.

How large an area of grazing land must the second farmer have to support 1,000 cows?

Answer 1

To support 1,000 cows, the second farmer would need an area of grazing land measuring 2,000 square meters.

Step-by-step explanation:

To calculate the area of grazing land needed to support 1,000 cows, we need to determine the amount of grass each cow requires and then find the total grass needed for 1,000 cows. The second farmer's free range cows each eat 2.0 lbs. of grass per day per cow. Given that grass produces 365 lbs. of grass per year per square meter, we can calculate the area of grazing land needed by dividing the total grass needed by the grass produced per year per square meter.

Step 1: Calculate the total grass needed for 1,000 cows per day: 2.0 lbs. x 1,000 cows = 2,000 lbs. of grass per day.

Step 2: Calculate the total grass needed for 1,000 cows per year: 2,000 lbs. x 365 days = 730,000 lbs. of grass per year.

Step 3: Calculate the area of grazing land needed: 730,000 lbs. / 365 lbs. per year per square meter = 2,000 square