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Eat meat, sequester carbon

Properly managed regenerative grazing of beef cattle can result in more carbon stored in the soil than the cattle release into the environment, according to a Life Cycle Assessment Commissioned by General Mills and conducted by researchers at Quantis International. The study was conducted in 2017 at White Oaks Pastures in Bluffton Georgia. White Oak Pastures regeneratively grazes cattle, sheep, and poultry on three thousand acres of land in southwest Georgia. They call their methods radical traditional farming. 

The  White Oak study points out that conventionally raised beef justifiably has a bad reputation because of its large carbon footprint. However, the net carbon dioxide emissions at White Oak was a negative 3.5 kilograms of carbon dioxide per kilogram of fresh meat produced. This compares to thirty-three kilograms of carbon dioxide emitted per kilogram of meat produced in conventional U.S. beef production.

White Oak Pasture’s grazing system, which integrates cattle with hogs, sheep, and poultry, is six times more carbon efficient than conventional beef systems and actually reduces overall carbon emissions, according to the Life Cycle Assessment conducted by the reports authors.

The Quantis Life Cycle Assessment took into consideration carbon emissions from the cattles digestion (known as enteric emissions), manure, and the transport and slaughter of the cattle as well is miscellaneous farm activities. Enteric and manure emissions contributed thirty-four kilograms of carbon dioxide per kilogram of meat produced and were by far the biggest carbon culprits. However, soil carbon sequestration and carbon sequestration in vegetative matter offset that by a total of minus thirty-nine kilograms of carbon dioxide per kilogram of meat produced. The majority of the carbon offset was in highly stable soil carbon.

The results of this study suggest that protein produced by ruminants using the regenerative grazing system employed by White Oak Pastures will have a zero to negative green house gas foot print while conventional beef, sheep, pork, poultry and even soy all have a positive green house gas foot print.

The Quantis study considers that it may be underemphasizing the role of methane in enteric emissions. It also points out that if the pastures at White Oak are tilled in the next decade the benefits of sequestering soil carbon will be largely lost. They also point out that their study may be conservative because the science to measure enteric emissions needs to be refined. If that is the case, the carbon offset could increase. The authors believe that the carbon offset may also increase as the land at White Oak Pastures continues to regenerate.

Agriculture makes up nine percent of America’s green house gas emissions, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, and livestock accounts for about one-third of that. If livestock producers adapted the model of regenerative grazing used by White Oak Pastures the green house gas offset could have a very positive effect on agricultures role in global climate disruption.




Tim

Central Minnesota Political

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