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Mark Zuckerberg explains why he wants to feed his cattle beer and macadamia nuts

Mark Zuckerberg
Mark Zuckerberg. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
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Mark Zuckerberg recently added cattle ranching to his list of hobbies, and he relies on a surprising choice of feed for his cattle.

The Meta CEO said on Instagram last month he'd started raising wagyu and angus cows on his ranch in Hawaii and that he planned to feed them beer and macadamia nuts, which the ranch would also produce.

He explained the diet choice on an episode of the "Morning Brew Daily" podcast released Friday.

He said that while most commercial cattle operations are constrained by the costs of what they feed their cows, he doesn't have that problem.

"I'm not trying to do this commercially," he said. "I'm just trying to create the highest-quality stuff we can."

Zuckerberg said he wanted to feed his cows the "densest, most nutritious" food so they can both gain weight and "be the most delicious cows."

"As a human, what do you think is the thing that basically you just sit and eat a lot? It's like beer and nuts, basically. Nuts, super dense. Beer induces appetite, which I think people are familiar with."

It's common for cows that produce high-end beef to be given beer to stimulate their appetites.

He wrote in an Instagram post last month that each of his cows consumes 5,000 to 10,000 pounds of food a year, and his daughters are helping plant the macadamia trees.

Cattle aren't all Zuck has planned for his Hawaii ranch. Wired reported in December that he's building a $100 million compound with a 5,000-square-foot underground bunker, an escape hatch, and at least 30 bedrooms and 30 bathrooms.

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Sarah Jackson
Sarah Jackson was a senior reporter at Business Insider who covers tech and trending business news, with a focus on the workplace. She has covered The Great Resignation, workplace trends, remote work and RTO, tech layoffs, the job search, and more. Before joining Business Insider in 2021, Sarah also wrote for places like Inc., NBC News, and The Today Show. She received her B.A. in journalism from NYU.Some of Sarah's top stories include:Workers are 'epiphany-quitting' their jobs after the pandemic forced them to rethink everything about their livesJob postings can reveal signs of trouble ahead with a potential employer or role. Here are the red flags that candidates should look for.The 'hushed hybrid' work schedule is the latest way employees are getting around a return to the officeNew York City employers are now required to list salary ranges in their job posts. Here's how that will affect candidates and companies.as-told-to: I do 'Bare Minimum Mondays' at work to help beat the 'Sunday scaries' and avoid burnout. It's completely changed my life and how I approach my job.