Eat grass-fed beef to save the planet

The fight against mitigating the effects of climate change has brought a new threat to the beef and sheep producer – a new type of vegetarian. Until recently, those who decided not to eat meat did it because they saw the rearing of animals for meat as not fitting into their way of thinking, or quite simply because they did not like the taste.

However evidence suggests that a number of people are now stopping or reducing their intake of red meat due to concern surrounding methane emissions. With methane being around 23 times more potent than CO2, folk who care about these things are acting now and some of high profile figures (mentioning no names) are doing their best to influence others.

The industry has done its best to defend the methane imprint of livestock but the argument based on current scientific evidence is weak. But now thanks to a group of farmers with its roots in North America we can reassure those wavering on whether to replace the Sunday Roast with a nut roast that by choosing the former we can actually save the planet.

By changing grazing management evidence suggests we can significantly reduce the carbon footprint of red meat. Mob grazing is a method of management that pulls large amounts of CO2 into the soil as carbon and exploits the dung beetle to break down cowpats, reducing the amount of methane emitted from manure. The added benefit of mob grazing is a more diverse plant population and greater water holding capacity of the soil. A higher stocking rate and lower cost means the farmer wins too.

Mob grazing in a snapshot could be described as follows. Up to 250,000kg liveweight of cattle are rotated every 2-3 hours between half-acre bits of land. This is repeated another twice during the day and during the hours of darkness the mob of cattle are allowed to lie on the entire area grazed that day.

Crucially the water trough does not move during the day which sees cattle trampling backwards and forwards to it. It is that trampling action that pushes dead plant material into the soil, moves the cowpats and tramples the weeds. The next day the animals move on not returning until each plant has fully recovered. It is that rest period that provides the diversity.

Under continuous grazing systems or traditional strip grazing practices recovery times are shorter which leads to the establishment of plant species which are able to cope with those conditions. Another benefit of rest is a better-developed root system. When the plant is next grazed these roots die back, are broken down by soil microbes and remain in the soil as carbon. And the benefits do not stop there. As we see a more diverse population of plants, a more diverse wildlife population follows.

This is the most extreme form of mob grazing, and you don’t have to go this far to make a difference – I have visited farms in Canada when stock are moved on a weekly basis. On my farm in North Yorkshire, I am moving my cattle on a daily basis during the winter and I’m looking to try the system this summer too.

So next time someone tells you they have reduced their intake of red meat due to concerns about methane tell them about the ever increasing group of mob graziers. If they really want to save the planet, tell them to buy their meat from sustainable farms such as these.

David Hugill farms a three-way beef cross and 25,000 free range chickens on 150 hectares near North Allerton in North Yorkshire. You can contact him by email at Davidhugill2@aol.com. You can also read Graham Harvey’s article about mob grazing in The Times by clicking here or watch a filmed presentation about it on our videos page.

Photo courtesy of Jlastra