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Livestock And Sustainable Food Systems | Earth Wise

February 10, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Animal-based agriculture has endured a great deal of criticism with regard to its contributions to climate change and its other environmental impacts. But its contributions to a sustainable food system are by no means all bad. In fact, livestock play important roles in sustainable, regenerative agro-food systems.

Animals’ natural biological processes enable them to consume plant and food residues that are either indigestible by humans, unpalatable to people, or are no longer sellable for various reasons, all referred to as IUUB biomass. There are many examples.

One dairy farm receives daily deliveries of apple waste from a processing facility that supplies apple slices for school lunches. Another local dairy gets three truckloads of vegetable and fruit discards, along with expired bread products, each week. No longer useful for consumers, these foodstuffs become feed for cattle rather than going to a landfill. Even the booming market for plant-based foods like artificial meat for consumers has generated a surge of processing byproducts that can be consumed by livestock.

On a national scale, livestock are consuming millions of pounds of otherwise unusable IUUB created in the production of products like soybean and canola oils, orange juice, ethanol, and more.

While the livestock industry needs to keep working to minimize its environmental impact and there are many reasons to eat less meat, livestock farming is an integral part of our agro-food systems. Farmers are embracing techniques to produce meat, milk and eggs as efficiently and sustainably as possible, minimizing agriculture’s climate-contributing footprint in the process.

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Amazing Cows Hold Promise in Pioneering Sustainable Food Systems

Photo, posted May 11, 2019, courtesy of Theo Stikkelman via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Eco-Friendly Agriculture

October 21, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Modern agriculture has steadily destroyed native grasslands, among other ecosystems. In fact, farming is one of the most ecologically destructive things that humans do. But we do have to eat. In response, there is a growing movement for agrarian reform, from grain farming on the prairie, to agroforestry, to raising livestock more sustainably. Efforts are accelerating to develop a kinder, gentler agriculture adapted to a changing world.

One such effort has come from the Land Institute, an organization in Kansas that works on natural systems agriculture, which seeks to retain the ecological stability of the prairie with its perennial seed plants along with a grain and seed yield comparable to that from annual crops.

After four decades of effort, the institute has introduced its first commercial grain, a trademarked variety called Kernza. Kernza is a domesticated perennial wild grass – a so-called intermediate wheatgrass – that has a long, slender head that resembles wheat seeds. People describe its taste as sweet and nutty. Kernza is already being made into a cereal called Honey Toasted Kernza by Cascadian Farms. Patagonia Provisions – a spin-off from the clothing company – is making beer from the new grain.

Although Kernza is already being grown and sold commercially, it is not yet ready for prime time. Last year, there were only about 1,000 acres in cultivation and the yield is only a third to a tenth of the yield of wheat.

Developing a sustainable perennial polyculture of edible plants would have major benefits such as not having to plow every year, plants developing large root systems that can reach water far beneath the surface and, without annual plowing, having soil carbon remain in the ground.

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With New Perennial Grain, a Step Forward for Eco-Friendly Agriculture

Photo courtesy of Cascadian Farms/General Mills.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Reducing Methane From Animals

September 3, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Methane emissions from ruminant livestock are currently estimated to be more than 100 million tons each year and, after rice agriculture, represent the biggest human-initiated methane source. Given that fact, there is widespread encouragement for people to reduce their consumption of meat in order to reduce the amount of the potent greenhouse gas going into the atmosphere.

But an additional strategy to lower global methane emissions is to actually reduce the amount of methane produced by each animal. To that end, researchers at the University of Otago in New Zealand have now identified new processes that control methane production in the stomachs of sheep and similar animals like cattle and deer.

They determined the specific microbes and enzymes that control the supply of hydrogen, which is the main energy source for methane producing microbes, known as methanogens. Their work is focused on the development of small molecule inhibitors and vaccines to specifically target the production of methane by methanogens. By reducing the supply of hydrogen to methanogens, it is possible to reduce animal methane emissions.

The research involved studying two types of sheep – those producing large amounts of methane and those producing less. They found that the most active hydrogen-consuming microbes differed between the sheep. Specifically, in the low methane emitting sheep, hydrogen consuming bacteria dominated over methanogens.

Ultimately, a strategy might emerge to introduce feed supplements that encourage non-methane producers to out-compete methanogens. Controlling the supply of hydrogen to the methanogens will lead to reduced methane emissions.

Having low-emission cattle would definitely help reduce the impact of agriculture on the climate.

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Scientists discover processes to lower methane emissions from animals

Photo, posted April 7, 2017, courtesy of Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Fighting Climate Change With Trees

August 20, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

We cut down forests all around the world for a myriad of reasons, including livestock grazing, agricultural production, timber, and urban development. But what if we stopped cutting down forests for these things and additionally grew new forests on vacant lots and any other available parcels of land on earth? What impact could this have on our survival?

For the first time, scientists have quantified what impact this plan could have. According to a new study by researchers at ETH Zurich – a university that specializes in science, technology, and engineering – the planet could support nearly 2.5 billion additional acres of forest without shrinking current cities and farms. When all those acres of forest mature, the trees could store an extra 200 gigatons of carbon. This reforestation could stave off the most devastating impacts of global climate change.

Russia could restore the most acres of forest – 373 million acres to be precise – followed by the United States with 255 million acres and Canada with 193 million acres. Australia, Brazil, and China also have large areas well-suited for forest restoration.

The average global temperature has risen by 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit since the start of the industrial age with its surge in greenhouse gas emissions. Temperatures are projected to rise even more in the coming years as the planet continues to warm.

Trees absorb CO2 from the atmosphere and store it in their roots and branches. The absorbed carbon becomes part of the soil when trees die and decompose, and it can linger there for millennia depending on things like temperature and soil management. Trees are critical in the fight against climate change.

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How trees could save the climate

Photo, posted June 18, 2011, courtesy of K.W. Barrett via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Climate Change And Nutrients

August 15, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Ending hunger isn’t a question of producing enough food. Globally, enough food is produced to feed all 7.7 billion people on the planet. But despite this, approximately 1 in 9 people go hungry. Conflict, natural disasters, and extreme poverty are some of the main drivers of global hunger.

Climate change is another. The more frequent and intense extreme weather events increase food insecurity and malnutrition by destroying land, livestock, crops, and food supplies. Climate change makes growing crops harder every year, especially for those who lack the tools and technology to adapt.

But the challenge of reducing hunger and malnutrition is to not only produce foods that provide enough calories, but to also produce foods that make enough necessary nutrients widely available. According to new research, climate change is projected to significantly reduce the availability of critical nutrients such as protein, iron, and zinc over the next 30 years. The total impact of climate change could reduce global per capita nutrient availability of protein, iron, and zinc by 19.5%, 14.4%, and 14.6%, respectively.

While higher levels of carbon dioxide can boost growth in plants, wheat, rice, corn, barley, potatoes, soybeans, and vegetables are all projected to suffer nutrient losses of about 3% on average by 2050 due to the elevated CO2 levels.

The study, which was co-authored by an international group of researchers and published in the peer-reviewed journal, Lancet Planetary Health, represents the most comprehensive synthesis of the impacts of climate change on the availability of nutrients in the global food supply to date.

Climate change is complicating the quest to end global hunger and malnutrition.

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Rising CO2, climate change projected to reduce availability of nutrients worldwide

Photo, posted April 30, 2015, courtesy of Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Sunlight As A Cash Crop

July 10, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

It isn’t so easy to be a farmer these days. Farming has always involved long hours, hard work and the uncertainties of weather and yield. The 21st Century has added new and unique challenges such as increasingly unpredictable weather, insect infestation and disease, and low commodity prices. Add in sudden tariffs and farmers struggle even more to make ends meet. The default rate for farmers’ loans is the the highest in at least nine years.

One thing that remains reliable for farmers is the sun. It rises in the morning and goes down at night. The sun can be trusted, unlike politicians, rain, or commodity prices. These days, many farmers are taking advantage of the dependability of the sun to make money from a new cash crop: solar energy.

The trend is spreading. North Carolina has been a leading solar energy state for several years and a 2017 report found that solar energy generates 30% of the income of many farms. Typical annual rent payments for farmland by solar companies range from $500 to $1,400 per acre in North Carolina.

A growing list of states have clean energy mandates targeting 100% use of renewable energy. These mandates provide incentives for farmers that make installing solar a financially smart decision and falling prices for solar installations make it an even better deal.

Solar works well when co-located on a farm and can be built in ways that minimizes impact. It is quiet, uses almost no water, doesn’t pollute, and if it is decommissioned, the land can go back to its previous use. If the solar facilities are raised up, the same land can be used to graze livestock or grow shade-tolerant crops.

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Harvesting the sun is the new cash crop

Photo, posted December 25, 2017, courtesy of Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Drugs In The Water

April 15, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

According to a new study published in the journal Environmental Research Letters, concentrations of pharmaceuticals in rivers and lakes have dramatically increased across the globe over the past 20 years.

Traces of medicines get passed into waterways through the excretion of active drugs in human waste, the disposal of unused medicines down drains, and runoff from livestock farms.

The study looked in detail at two specific drugs: carbamazepine, an anti-epileptic drug, and ciprofloxacin, an antibiotic. The study found that the risk of ecological damage from the residue from these two drugs was 10 to 20 times higher in 2015 than in 1995.

Chronic exposure to carbamazepine, for example, has been shown to alter feeding behavior and reduce egg viability in zebrafish, as well as reduce reproductive success in crustaceans. Antibiotics can alter major nutrient cycles and decrease the effectiveness of bacteria-based wastewater treatment systems.

The study, led by researchers from the Netherlands, created a new model estimating concentrations of the two drugs over a 20-year period in 449 aquatic systems around the globe. The model predicts a relatively high environmental risk in densely populated and dry areas such as the Middle East.

When the researchers compared the model’s results to samples from four river systems in various locations, they found that the actual drug concentrations were even higher than model results, in some cases by a factor of 10 to 100.

The new model should act as a guide for a more thorough investigation into pharmaceutical residues in waterways, which pose significant environmental risks all over the world.

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Concentrations of Pharmaceuticals in Freshwater Increasingly Globally

Photo, posted March 22, 2012, courtesy of Rajeev Rajagopalan via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Defusing The Methane Time Bomb

March 26, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Permafrost is defined as soil that remains frozen for two or more consecutive years. It is generally composed of rock, soil, sediments, and varying amounts of ice that binds it all together. The permafrost of the Arctic represents one of the largest reservoirs of organic carbon in the world. It covers vast regions of Siberia, northern Canada, Alaska and Greenland.

When permafrost thaws, microbes in the previously-frozen soil go to work digesting organic materials and release carbon dioxide and methane, both of which are greenhouse gases. Methane is 25 times more effective in trapping heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide, so it represents the greater threat. The massive amounts of methane that could be released by thawing permafrost have been described as a ticking time bomb threatening the world’s climate. Unfortunately, the permafrost in the Arctic is already starting to thaw as a result of climate change.

A new study by researchers at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis looked into the prospects for neutralizing the threat posed by the release of methane from thawing permafrost. They analyzed the relative contributions of potential methane emissions from the permafrost and existing ones from human activities. Human-caused methane emissions from fossil fuel activities, waste dumps, and livestock constitute a major source of the gas.

Their conclusion is that if we can greatly reduce human-generated methane release, the effects of uncontrolled Arctic methane emissions could be mitigated. It is unclear whether we can do much to stave off the Arctic methane release at this point, but the release of methane from human activities is something we can do something about. But the clock is ticking.

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Diffusing the methane bomb: We can still make a difference

Photo, posted August 14, 2011, courtesy of Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Food Production And Climate Change

January 29, 2019 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

According to a University of Oxford study recently published in the journal Science, food production is a major driver of climate change as it’s responsible for 26% of all greenhouse gas emissions. But the research team found that the environmental impact of different foods varied greatly.

Meat and other animal products are responsible for 58% of all food-related greenhouse gas emissions, despite only providing approximately one-fifth of the calories we consume. The researchers found that beef and lamb in particular have the most damaging effect on the planet, responsible for half of all greenhouse gas emissions from animal agriculture.

These findings echo recommendations from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change about how individuals can reduce their carbon footprint through diet. The IPCC suggests we consume less meat and dairy products, consume more locally-sourced seasonal foods, and throw less food in the trash.

Avoiding meat and dairy products can reduce an individual’s carbon footprint from food by two-thirds. The effects of doing so include everything from conserving water and preserving biodiversity to reducing pollution and deforestation.

Interestingly, the same food can have major differences in terms of environmental impacts. For example, beef raised on deforested land is responsible for 12 times as many greenhouse gas emissions as that raised on natural pastures. But even the most climate-friendly meat options are still responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions than the highest-impact vegetable proteins, like beans and nuts.

Big differences can also be made by avoiding chocolate and coffee produced from deforested lands.

To learn more about the climate impact of your diet, follow the link to the ‘Climate Change Food Calculator’ on our website: Earth-Wise-Radio.org.

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Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers

Climate change food calculator

Photo, posted June 21, 2011, courtesy of USDA NRCS Montana via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Nitrogen Pollution

March 30, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Earth system scientists say that there are four major human-caused forces that threaten to cause irreversible and abrupt environmental upheaval: climate change, deforestation, biodiversity loss, and excess nitrogen.

[Read more…] about Nitrogen Pollution

Reviled Animals Can Be Beneficial

February 16, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Predators and scavengers are widely persecuted by people because they are often harmful to property, livestock, and human beings. Nonetheless, research has shown that many of these animals play important roles in ecosystems and their removal can be quite harmful.

Are Big Cats In Big Trouble?

January 16, 2018 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

According to researchers with the National Geographic Society’s Big Cats Initiative, cheetahs are much closer to extinction than previously thought. The research team has released a study, which was recently published in the journal PeerJ, that updates the cheetah population numbers in southern Africa, the largest of its remaining habitat.

Hopeful Climate Trends

December 27, 2017 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

In November, Syria joined the Paris Climate Accord. As a result, the United States is now the only country in the world that has rejected the global pact. Despite this embarrassing news, there is reason for optimism in the effort to stave off the worst impacts of climate change. In particular, 7 major trends provide hope that things could move in the right direction.

The Tiny Country That Feeds The World

October 3, 2017 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

The Netherlands is a small, densely populated country with more than 1,300 inhabitants per square mile. It lacks almost every resource one associates with large-scale agriculture. Nevertheless, it is the number two exporter of food in the world, second only to the United States, which is almost 300 times bigger. The Dutch lead the world in exporting tomatoes, potatoes and onions and produce many other crops as well.

Cows And The Environment

May 18, 2017 By EarthWise

There are many environmental problems associated with ruminant livestock and these problems continue to grow as the demand for meat-rich diets increases around the world. One of the biggest problems is that cows emit methane through eructation (or belching) as they chew their cud. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas, some 25 times more potent at trapping heat than carbon dioxide. More than a quarter of all human-originated methane going into the atmosphere comes from raising livestock.

Did People Create The Sahara Desert?

April 25, 2017 By EarthWise

One of the arguments some people make when discussing human causes of climate change is that people can’t cause such massive changes. However, there is a long historical record of human-driven ecological and climatic change in Europe, North America and New Zealand, among other places.

Livestock And Antibiotics

January 19, 2017 By EarthWise

According to the FDA, approximately three-quarters of all antibiotics used in the U.S. are fed to livestock for non-therapeutic purposes. This routine administration of antibiotics promotes the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which can spread to animals and humans. And as antibiotic-resistant bacteria spreads, medicines used to treat human diseases can become less effective. Antibiotic resistant infections kill 90,000 Americans each year.

Snow Leopards And Humans

November 10, 2016 By WAMC WEB

Snow leopards are majestic animals native to Central Asia. They roam the region’s rugged terrain, from Afghanistan to Kazakhstan and Russia in the north, and to India and China in the east. Snow leopards are known for their thick white coat of fur with ringed black and brown spots. These markings help camouflage the animals from their prey. But the camouflage does little to protect snow leopards from one of their biggest threats: humans.

Mapping Emerging Infectious Diseases

July 12, 2016 By WAMC WEB

Ebola. Hantavirus. Lyme disease. What do they have in common? Like most emerging infectious diseases, they originated in mammals. So many debilitating pathogens make the jump from wildlife and livestock to humans, yet at the global scale little is known about where people are most at risk of outbreaks.

Global Water Scarcity

March 23, 2016 By WAMC WEB

Water is a simple chemical compound containing two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom connected by covalent bonds. It covers 71% of Earth’s surface and is vital for all forms of life. Despite its abundance, water that is safe for drinking is globally in short supply.