Not every part of the world can produce crops. It wasn't that long ago that in America cattle were produced in areas that could not be used for farmland. Many arid environments can be used for producing meat where no food could otherwise be produced.
If no food can be otherwise produced what are the animals eating ?
On arid land what are the drinking ?
The truth is that they are eating grains and drinking water that otherwise could be used by people to eat.
Those "areas that could not be used for farmland" of which you speak where publicly owned lands which ranchers leased as grazing land. Which turned out to be a mistake because without the grasses to hold the arid land in place the first serious drought that came along ended up blowing the top soil away.
Grazing cattle on arid land was one of the things that contributed to the dust-bowl in the 1930's. Which is way its no done much anymore.
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