The Importance Of Cattle In An Environmentally Conscious World
We live in a time where caring about our environment and making environmentally friendly decisions is en vogue; and what a wonderful time it is! It is great seeing more people recycling and being more aware of their own carbon footprint. For some, that desire to minimize their carbon footprint translated into embracing and implementing dietary trends like “meatless Mondays”. What if cattle provided some solutions to lowering our carbon footprint?
To be frank, agriculture is an easy target when it comes to global warming or environmental concerns. Consider it low hanging fruit, if you will, though perhaps not for the reasons you are thinking. Most people today are at least four generations removed from agriculture, meaning they only know what they have been told by their peers, accurate or inaccurate (often the latter), about agriculture as they have never set foot on a farm or ranch or know anything about various agricultural practices. Popular TV and Netflix documentaries have been notorious for skewing facts, taking things out of context, and even outright lying about what farmers and ranchers do to the food supply… something that’s easy to do when farmers and ranchers only make up 2% of the population. Could there be an easier target? How can 2% of a population fight back against the remaining 98%? Adversity breeds ingenuity and progress.
Ranchers in particular have always fought hard to raise cattle that match the current public climate. Around 80 years ago, during World War II, there was a great need for tallow. Ranchers utilized genetic selection (the process of selecting breeding stock based on certain desired traits to be passed on to their progeny) to produce cattle that could meet this increased demand for fat. A few decades later consumers demanded ultra-lean beef and, once again, the rancher obliged. Today is no different! Ranchers have heard the complaints and cries for more sustainable beef and with each generation of calves we, as an industry, grow more sustainable and more productive! I know…this Sounds contradictory. How can ranchers be sustainable and also more productive than they were? Currently, The US provides 18% of the worlds beef with only 6% of the world’s cattle! In fact, by selecting for more efficient animals, we are able to produce the same amount of beef as we did a couple decades ago but with 40 million fewer head of cattle!
Selecting for more efficient cattle is just one way that cattle ranchers are stepping up to the sustainability plate. Cattle are natural upcyclers, they can convert plant material into nutritious beef for all of us. Cattle nutritionists have long been able to utilize this amazing bovine trait to use byproducts from other industries to feed cattle. The word “byproduct” today can be a dirty word, but in reality, byproduct is just a word used to describe something that is left over after processing something else. Cattle are able to utilize many different byproducts from other industries that would otherwise be considered a worthless waste product. Without ruminants to utilize these byproducts, they would make their way to landfills, take up space, and contribute to greenhouse gas emissions through decomposition. Some common byproducts upcycled by cattle are:
· almond hulls and ground almond shell from almond harvests
· Dried distillers grain which is mostly (98%) a byproduct from producing ethanol from corn but also is a byproduct from producing alcoholic beverages
· Citrus pulp left over from, you guessed it, citrus
· Millrun which is a byproduct from the milling of wheat or flour production;
· rice hulls over from harvesting rice
· the list goes on and on!
Cattle make other industries more efficient by finding a use for otherwise useless byproducts and turning it into products like meat and dairy. Not to leave the environment topic, but cattle utilizing these by products also stimulates the economy!
When we hear the phrase “environmentally friendly”, cattle ranches should come to mind. Cattle ranches across the country provide habitat for up to 75% of America’s wildlife! According to The Beef Checkoff, 85% of grazing land in the US is unsuitable to for other types of agriculture, like growing crops. Why is that important? It is estimated that by the year 2050 the world will need up to 70% more food. One claim against the sustainability of cattle ranching is the amount of land it takes to feed cattle that could be used to directly feed humans. Well, it turns out the majority of land utilized by cattle can’t be used for anything other than grazing! The fact that the land can’t be used for anything else protects its natural state. That’s hundreds of millions of acres left completely or almost completely natural, the way God made it! What can be more natural and sustainable than leaving land alone for animals (domestic and/or wild) to graze? Another reason to want cattle grazing – Carbon Sequestration! Carbon dioxide is a biggie when it comes to greenhouse gasses. Cattle are often demonized for being contributors to negative gas emissions, but in reality, cattle help mitigate these greenhouse gas emissions! When managed properly, grazing leads to healthier grass, soil, and greater biodiversity within the soil which allows for greater storage of carbon! Around 30% of the worlds carbon pool is sequestered by grazing land!
Cattle are good for the environment and provide us with nutritive beef, but what about the parts of the animal we don’t eat? There has to be a bunch of parts that can’t be utilized, right? Wrong! Virtually all of the carcass can be used! Whether you agree with the use of leather products or not, leather made from cow hides is one of the more obvious and most widely used from sports equipment, to fashion, to upholstery. As a leatherworker myself, this is my second favorite part of the cow; the first being a Prime Rib Roast! In addition to providing leather, the hide can also supply us with collagen for plastic surgery or for powder supplements, but most frequently it is used for gelatin. Tallow is still used frequently in many forms ranging from soap and toothpaste to hydraulic brake fluid. Cartilage can be used for osteoarthritis medicine, lung tissue can be used for blood thinners, Insulin from the pancreas can be utilized by diabetics, the list is seemingly endless! There is a wonderful article in BEEF magazine about the importance of cattle in modern day medicine that I will link here.
I saved the best for last! Many of us have heard that cattle are one of the leading sources of greenhouse gases. This is grossly incorrect! According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, agriculture accounts for just 10% of the total US greenhouse gas emissions, while Transportation and electricity account for 28% and 27%, respectively. Cattle account for 3.7% of total agricultural emissions. Please see the info graphic below provided by The Beef Checkoff. Now, just because cattle have such a low amount of emissions doesn’t mean that the industry as a whole isn’t trying to improve! Quite the opposite! Recently a feed trial was conducted in Canada on a feed additive that would reduce methane production in cattle by 80%! We are constantly using science to improve and grow with the times!
There really isn’t a better choice when it comes to choosing a sustainable meat source! While alive, cattle maintain range land keeping noxious weeds at a minimum while also allowing for carbon sequestration. In death, they not only feed us, they provide us with countless byproducts that make our everyday life easier. As stated before, the cattle industry is always improving, and they will continue to improve. We are selecting for even more efficient cattle to meet the estimated food demands in coming decades and we are utilizing science to maintain and even better our environment on our way to the future. When evaluating how to reduce our carbon footprint, leaving beef on the table is definitely good choice!
