There are many arguments put forward against livestock
farming, none of which have any substance.
One of the arguments against livestock farming is the environmental
one. It always disappoints me to hear
people say that to reduce their carbon footprint they should reduce their meat
consumption. Such glib statements while
not only being profoundly ignorant do nothing to further the cause of the
environmental movement.
We produce meat in the rangelands of Australia – it is one
of the most environmentally benign forms of food production. There are minimal inputs such as fertiliser
or herbicides and the land supports a variety of plants in contrast to the
monoculture of modern cropping operations.
The grass produced on the station will either be fermented
on the ground or in the fermentation vats that are the digestive system of a
cow. By having a cow utilise the grass
then we can utilise the output of this fermentation. And by appropriate management of the
livestock on the property we can maximise the carbon that is sequestered by the
vegetation.
The use of livestock can also reduce the fuel load through
the grazing of herbaceous plant material thus reducing the probability and
negative consequences of wild fire. Thus
if we eliminated beef production in our neck of the woods it is likely that
carbon output would increase and nothing would be produced.
The potential benefits of livestock farming in the
rangelands have been recently highlighted by Allan Savory with his talk on TED
receiving more than one million viewers.
Mr Savory illustrates the potential to produce food on land while
improving its condition by mimicking nature.
