Guilt-free meat?

Should the world stop eating meat to tackle the climate crisis? Chris Baraniuk meets an experimental farmer who says we don't all have to become vegetarians

These cattle are on a diet. A small herd of 20 grazers in this field at Brook Hall Estate in DerryLondonderry, Northern Ireland, don't just have grass to eat -willow leaves are on the menu, too.

And this silvery green foliage could help shrink their carbon footprint.

"Our willow leaves are full of condensed tannins, which will interrupt the formation of methane," says John Gilliland, farmer, entrepreneur, honorary university professor and former president of the Ulster Farmers' Union.

Methane, comprising carbon and hydrogen, is a greenhouse gas 26 times more potent than carbon dioxide-so it's a significant driver of climate change. Research suggests that increasing the condensed tannins in a cow's diet could reduce the amount of methane emitted when the animal belches or breaks wind.

Such trials aim to measure the impact of this dietary change. It's just one of various approaches Gilliland is testing in an effort to radically redefine the role of farms and farmers in the fight against climate change.

Livestock farming around the world is facing scrutiny because of its greenhouse gas emissions. Globally, the sector contributes somewhere between 11.1% and 19.6% of total emissions. Meat production is roughly twice as bad as the production of plant-based food, according to some analyses. And beef is the worst of all.

Study after study has suggested that, in order to curtail the devastating effects of climate change, we ought to shift to a diet containing less meat - or even go vegetarian or vegan.

CLIMATE-FRIENDLY BEEF