Recently I took a drive through our pasture and noticed the grass starting to come up and flourish. As I looked out across the landscape, I couldn’t imagine this land any other way than pasture. The rocky cliffs, the deep valleys and other unique attributes that make it look the way it does, I thought there’s really nothing else someone could do out here. Growing crops would be a no-go on this piece of property. But it does a pretty good feeding our cowherd.
I read somewhere the Environmental Protection Agency attributes less than 3% of green house gases to cattle in the United States. I also heard on the news a morning last week a cooking website is not including beef in any of it’s new recipes, same with some restaurant. May is Beef month, and we should be celebrating it.
I thought to myself a couple of days ago, why is the industry that feeds people under so much scrutiny for what it does and how it does it? The website claims the shift is “solely about sustainability, about not giving airtime to one of the world’s worst climate offenders,” they said. “We think of this decision as not anti-beef but rather pro-planet.”
Does this website owner know anything about sustainability in agriculture? Have they stepped foot on a farm or ranch? Have they met a fifth, sixth or seventh generation farmer or rancher? (That’s sustainability right there.) Have they felt the dirt between their fingers or planted a seed in the soil? Have they watched the rangeland green up in the spring? Have they watched a calf being born or watched it grow? I want to assume they probably haven’t, and I want to be right.
I have planted a seed in freshly tilled soil. I have watched a calf be born, feed it and then sell it to move onto the next step in the food production cycle. I’ve helped make decisions, tough decisions to continue the generational farm.
I just can’t get past the fact some people believe they can thwart climate change. You can’t eat your way out of changes in the environment. Alison Van Eenennaam probably said it best in the April 28 pre-conference event for the Animal Agriculture Alliance’s Obstacles to Opportunities virtual summit.
“I think that it’s—do you want intensive production systems with low land use and greenhouse gas emissions per unit of product or extensive systems? Which maybe have the opportunity to also capture carbon. And here again, my friend (Hanna Tuomisto) is making the argument that livestock production especially extensive cattle grazing maintains habitats and species and is therefore really important for biodiversity and so, eliminating all livestock is really not reasonable from the perspective of biodiversity conservation, and perhaps most importantly, is that livestock are a hugely important role in sustainable ag systems as nutrient recyclers, and up cyclers, and their ability to utilize plants and other food that humans cannot consume.”
I can’t understand why people want to eat a man-made protein, that’s made up of a variety of ingredients mixed together—processed—when there’s already animal protein available. How is the made-up protein more sustainable? Is access to electricity endless? Are there factories, machines, workers, and other inputs available or sustainable when it comes to processing these made-up proteins that mimic the real thing? How does processing something contribute to climate change and sustainability?
There’s not an endless supply of grass and rangelands to raise cattle either, but on those available lands, a cow herd can take grass (which by the way, isn’t human consumable) and turn it in to a protein that is packed with vitamins, minerals and amino acids that can’t be replicated very well any other way. Wholesome.
Now, say you don’t care for beef. That’s your right. But what about those who prefer to hunt or fish? They’re harvesting deer, fish or other animals from the environment. Is that sustainable? Can wildlife be over harvested? Absolutely. That’s why there’s hunting seasons. But like beef, wildlife take advantage of the marginal lands and use the forages available to them, to create a protein consumable to humans.
I’m afraid beef could be the next victim to the cancel culture America is facing in this decade. There’s already sustainability in beef and that needs to be recognized. Farms and ranches wouldn’t have been in business for generations if it weren’t.
As for the climate change component and taking care of the planet, I’m not sure what those outside of agriculture think farmers and ranchers do to the land and their livestock, but most of the ones I have been around, care more about the environment than those doing the telling and canceling.
In the grand scheme of things our measly 500 acres in two counties and 70-some head of cattle, isn’t a drop in the bucket compared to other operations, but some of this property has been in the family for more than 100 years. It’s been improved and conserved and taken care of all those years.
I invite you to come out and see how beef is produced in southwest Kansas. I’d be more than happy to share the view with you and even cook you a steak!
