As I write this I’ve just finished reading an article about a “global warming expert,” Lord Stern of Brentford, a former chief economist of the World Bank and now a professor at the London School of Economics, who offered his opinion on the best solution to “save the planet from global warming.” His solution? Stop eating meat. Yeah, folks, that’s the message being dissipated to the masses. Somehow, by stopping eating, and by eating he means raising, feeding, transporting, slaughtering, processing and then eating meat, we will stop the greenhouse gases from our cows from destroying the planet.
After much research, I found on the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association’s (NCBA) web page, an article standing up for the livestock industry.
Increasingly we have heard that cattle play a big role in the carbon gases that are being emitted into the atmosphere. But there’s a lot more to the story than most media outlets have taken the time to share. Rick McCarty, Vice President of Issue Analysis and Strategy with NCBA, wrote an article early last spring, addressing a study released by the FAO, Food and Agriculture Organization, that cited cattle as responsible for 18 percent of the world’s greenhouse gases. I think more people need to be citing statistics from Mr. McCarty’s report. Mr. McCarty noted, “EPA’s inventory of U.S. greenhouse gases and sinks reports that, excluding fossil fuel for transport, the entire U.S. agriculture sector accounts for only 6.4 percent of annual U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Of this, livestock production accounts for about 2.5 percent of total emissions.”
The FAO report that Rick McCarty helps to explain is concluded with an interesting solution: “…accept that the intensification and perhaps industrialization of livestock production is the inevitable long-term outcome…” So essentially the FAO’s solution is to do what we here in the U.S. already are doing in most sectors of the livestock industry; we raise cattle, feed them out in confined situations, then slaughter, process and distribute. Rick McCarty notes that in reality, the U.S. could actually serve as a model for other nations by these standards. Much of our industry is vertically integrated, for better or worse, and we have concerned producers – you – ready to do what it takes to stay viable. Now, there’s a lot we could improve. But we certainly don’t need Americans, of all people, thinking that our industry is the main cause of some hyped-up global catastrophe, either. If you’d like to read Rick McCarty’s entire article, visit www.ozarksfn.com and click on “Extended Stories.” Stay informed, folks. Stay aware and stay involved in what’s going on in our world. It’s important and our livelihood depends on it.
God Bless,
