Ranchers, cowboys, and farmers need to be seen as stewards of nature

February 05, 2008

Editor:

There is a world trend developing that will eventually effect local meat producers. Local growers of meat animals need to re-examine their operations to see if they will merge well with future changes.

First and foremost, new national and world C02 reduction plans will include meat production. Here is why. UN estimates peg greenhouse gas emission from red meat production at 18 per cent of the world’s total emissions. World greenhouse gas emissions from all transportation are estimated at only 17 per cent.

Greenhouse gas emissions from all meat including fowl, red meat, pork and others is estimated at around 30 per cent of total greenhouse emissions. We are currently seeing countries impose fuel reduction limits on auto makers.

Expect to see the same on meat production and farming because conventional farming practises produce so much greenhouse gas. The longest running study comparing conventional farming to organic farming (22 years), conducted and published by the Rodale Institute clearly shows how organic farming produces less greenhouse gas, is easier on soil and saves significant amounts of water.

Additionally, organic is easier on the environment and watersheds and users because it uses no pesticides herbicides or insecticides. These changes to farming could be coming in the form of carbon taxes, increased costs of petrochemical fertilizers, fuel increases or incentives to incorporate sustainable farming practises like organic uses.

Farmers should also consider recent nutritional research that indicates we each only need about 500 grams of red meat a week and volumes over that increase the risk of cancer. The North American obesity epidemic is also tied to heavy meat consumption.

Additionally, many countries and their citizens are looking for ways to reduce their ecological footprint. Reducing fuel and meat consumption are the easiest ways to do this.

How many people do you know that typically say they do not eat red meat much anymore and focus more on chicken and fish for health? I find more and more of my friends turning towards becoming ecovegetarians or organic ecovegetarians as a way to decrease the size of their ecological footprint. Organics is the world’s fastest growing food industry. The local and national market for organics and locally grown is insatiable and growing. Canadian National regulations for certified organic farming will be coming out later this year.

It took us 30 years to get the government to standardize organic regulations. Certified organic growers that cheat and fail to meet the standards could be charged for fraud when this comes into effect.

Farming and the meat industry in general need to be planning for the coming changes and trends. It seems unavoidable. It would also be in your best interest if what I see in the form of future technology comes true. The coming trend will use the latest stem cell technology to grow meat of all kinds in food factories. It will be marketed as greener than conventional farming because no farm is farmed and no feedlot is fed. It will be marketed as more humane because no critter is killed (just the muscle of the animal is grown).

It will be marketed as healthier because the meat can be DNA customized to meet customer needs as fat or nutrients. Factories will be factored into some city’s food security and sustainability. It will also be touted as a way to save natural land for nature. If the U.S. accepts the factory meat as it recently accepted cloned meat, we too will accept it, or have to leave NAFTA.

The only way to beat this will be to be as green as you can get. Grow it the way nature would. Otherwise you’ll be lumped in with and competing with cloned animals, genetically modified animals, their patents, and factory meat. Ranching and farming kinda starts to lose its appeal when that is the kind of company that is kept.

I think farming and ranching are great lifestyles and traditions that I would like to see survive. Simply going along with all the technology changes continues to transform cattlemen, farmers, and cowboys into food factory workers for corporations. Ranchers, cowboys, and farmers need to be seen as stewards of nature.

The first region where ranchers and farmers significantly shift towards sustainable/certified organic agriculture will be the leaders and the one to beat.

Good luck and watch for the signs.

Tom Salley

McLeese Lake