Farming Smarter Can Reduce Methane Emissions From Livestock

The argument against beef production is gaining momentum, with the industry being accused, often inaccurately, of significantly increasing greenhouse gas emissions. However, climate-smart farming and improving productivity can reduce emissions. Lindi Botha reports.

The general perception that livestock is a major contributor to global warming started in 2006, when the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization published the study, ‘Livestock’s Long Shadow’, which indicated that livestock is responsible for 18% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This figure has since proved to be a gross overestimation, with real figures coming in at 5% to 10%.

In South Africa, the agriculture sector’s contribution to GHG is 8% to 9%, with livestock contributing between 5,5% and 6%.

In addition, a recent study on global nutrition called for a drastic reduction in red meat consumption, citing health and environmental risks associated with red meat production.

‘Food in the Anthropocene: the EAT-Lancet Commission on healthy diets from sustainable food systems’, a report published in The Lancet, seeks to promote an environmentally sustainable and optimally healthy diet for the world’s people by 2050. Its core recommendation is to minimise consumption of animal foods and replace them with whole grains, legumes and nuts. The recommended daily allowance of red meat is 7g, with 300g of vegetables, 50g of legumes and 25g of nuts.

This report has made waves in health and farming communities, with vegan lobbyists using it to campaign against beef production. However, the commission’s arguments have come under fire from nutritionists, who have labelled them vague, inconsistent and unscientific.

FIGURING OUT THE FIGURES

Prof Michiel Scholtz, a specialist researcher in applied animal breeding at the Agricultural Research Council, notes that the controversy over beef production’s contribution to GHG emissions stems from an incorrect understanding of the numbers.