Eat more meat! It could be better for the environment

Jan 20, 2016

Contradicts notion that eating meat harms the environment

By Diego Flammini
Assistant Editor, North American Content
Farms.com

There are many who believe that meat consumption harms the environment, but a new joint report between researchers in Scotland and Brazil may have discovered otherwise.

The report, completed by the University of Edinburgh, Scotland’s Rural College and Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation, published in Nature Climate Change, outlines that reducing beef production in the Brazilian Cerrado could lead to increased greenhouse gas emissions.

The report’s lead author, Rafael Silva, from the University of Edinburgh’s School of Mathematics, said that because grassland in Brazil is in poor shape, it leads to low beef productivity.

Silva said that increasing meat demands could encourage farmers to recover pastures in poor shape. The amount of carbon stored in soil could increase, require less land for cattle to graze, reduce deforestation and ultimately lower emissions.

Grass isn’t as effective as forests when it comes to storing carbon, but Brachiaria genus – grass found in Brazil, can store larger quantities of carbon because of its long roots.

Other findings in the report include:

Increasing beef demand by 30 per cent by 2030 could decrease emissions by 10 per cent
A 30 per cent reduction in beef demand could lead to a 9 per cent increase in emissions

Video: Dicamba Returns for Georgia Farmers: What the New EPA Ruling Means for Cotton Growers

After being unavailable in 2024 due to registration issues, dicamba products are returning for Georgia farmers this growing season — but under strict new conditions.

In this report from Tifton, Extension Weed Specialist Stanley Culpepper explains the updated EPA ruling, including new application limits, mandatory training requirements, and the need for a restricted use pesticide license. Among the key changes: a cap of two ½-pound applications per year and the required use of an approved volatility reduction agent with every application.

For Georgia cotton producers, the ruling is significant. According to Taylor Sills with the Georgia Cotton Commission, the vast majority of cotton planted in the state carries the dicamba-tolerant trait — meaning farmers had been paying for technology they couldn’t use.

While environmental groups have expressed concerns over spray drift, Georgia growers have reduced off-target pesticide movement by more than 91% over the past decade. Still, this two-year registration period will come with increased scrutiny, making stewardship and compliance more important than ever.