Ep. 375: Beef Industry’s Commitment to Carbon Reduction

Guest: Ruaraidh Petre, Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef

The beef industry is feeling the heat.

That heat is the ongoing campaign directed at cattle as a negative force upon the environment and in particular climate. While the industry in Europe, Australia, New Zealand and North America is already striving to reduce the environmental impact of cows, the rest of the world is also getting on-side.

The Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef is a worldwide organization that has set an ambitious 30% greenhouse gas reduction target through responsible and innovative agricultural practices, coupled with the use of new technology. Ruaraidh Petre, the Executive Director of GRSB says, “Paramount in our mission is animal health and welfare. Cattle require an environment in which they can thrive.”

Essential elements in ensuring the industry meets its targets are grassland management and herd size. Professor Myles Allen, an IPCC climate scientist and professor at Oxford University says, “A stable herd size is one that is not adding new methane and therefore has a minimal impact and, more interestingly, if the herd size declines, the impact on climate will actually be a reduction in global temperatures.”

For the Global Roundtable, it says that is just one element of its comprehensive plan to address climate and environment. Petre says, “Many producers and farmers are already net positive contributors to nature and for those that need assistance in making positive changes, the GRSB offers financing, and developmental support.”

We invited Ruariaidh Petre to join us from Nelson, New Zealand for a Conversation That Matters about the global effort underway to ensure cattle are a sustainable nutritional and environmental part of the world food supply.