Half of the cereals cultivated worldwide are used to feed livestock.

The global livestock sector ingested an estimated 6.0 billion tonnes of feed (DM) in 2010. The three major feed materials were grass and leaves (46% or 2.7 million tonnes), followed by crop residues such as straws, stover (leaves and stalks) or sugar-cane tops (19% or 1.1 billion tonnes DM). 

Total area of agricultural land currently used for livestock feed production at global level is 2.5 billion ha, which is around half of the global agricultural area
BUT
the largest share of this area is made up of grasslands, with almost 2 billion ha.

The production of cereals for monogastrics (e.g. pigs and poultry) occupies 138 million ha, or 20% of the global cereal-growing area. In addition, the global livestock sector uses about 66 million ha to produce cereal and legume silage and fodder beets. Using the allocation method based on mass and value of co-products, about 131 million ha can be attributed to the sector for oil seed cakes and 126 million ha for crop residues. Total arable land used to feed livestock reaches about 560 million ha, or about 40% of the global arable land.