Beef is often portrayed as environmentally unfriendly due to concerns about greenhouse gas and manure production, and the amount of water, feed and fossil fuels consumed in the production, processing and transport of cattle and beef.
However, cattle also make positive contributions to the environment through their ability to convert low-quality forages into high-quality protein for humans, as well as grassland’s contributions to carbon sequestration, maintenance of watersheds, wetlands, and habitat to support plant, animal, bird and insect biodiversity.
Changes in production practices over the decades have improved production efficiencies that have allowed Canada to become internationally competitive have also had environmental benefits. While there is a general understanding of the beef industry’s potential environmental impacts (both negative and positive), the available data has never been pulled together into a reliable summary of the industry’s true environmental footprint, or how it has changed over the years.
Funded by the National Check-off and Canada’s Beef Science Cluster, researchers are currently working to gather and assimilate information to define the Canadian beef industry’s environmental footprint. This information will provide the beef industry with balanced, factual information to justify the environmental attributes of the Canadian Beef Advantage, assess the environmental goods and services provided by Canada’s beef industry, and identify ways in which different sectors of the industry can improve their environmental performance. The study will also enrich the Economic, Social and Environmental Sustainability Assessment being done by the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef.