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On this episode of the Sustainable Dish Podcast I speak with Sara Place from the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. We break down the components of life cycle assessments for cattle, and the impact on water, land use, and methane emissions.
Mentioned in this Episode
National Cattlemen’s Beef Association
Ruminant nutrition
Life cycle assessments
Beyond Meat’s Beyond Burger Life Cycle Assessment
Leo Dicaprio- Instagram
Environmental footprint of cattle
Carbon, water, land use
Sustainability, bias, and value judgments
What is a life cycle assessment?
Environmental accounting system
Effects of decreasing meat consumption
Land use
Crop production versus animal production
Vast majority of the land is grazing land and perennial forage that cannot be cultivated
What does arable look like land?
USDA- land use types
Cows can produce nutrient dense food from food we can’t eat on land we can’t crop
Water
95% of water use associated with cattle is in their feed
Green water- precipitation water
Are you removing water or cycling the water?
Cattle when well managed improves the effectiveness of rainfall
Soil health indicators
We all depend on the same soil no matter your diet
Lifecycle of cattle in US
Cattle industry is largest agriculture system in US
Ruminants take corn and convert it into nutrient-dense protein
Protein conversion efficiency
Cattle upcycle nutrients
Carbon aspect
Ruminant animal digestive system
It’s about how the food is produced and gets to you, not about rearranging the food on your plate
Sustainable Dish Episode 60: Adaptive Multi-Paddock Grazing with Paige Stanley & Jason Rowntree
Impact of veganism on green house gas emissions
Beef.org
LCA
Beef Research
Great podcast. I am currently enjoying the sight of 3k+ store lambs grazing on a forage brassica planted after the wheat harvest. I reckon a lot of them will take a trip overseas once they become prime lambs. Nutrients kept in the ground, two cash crops, win win for the neighbours.