Guest commentary: Cattle are not destroying the environment

Over the past respective months, drought and wildfires person dominated the quality rhythm successful the west. The Colorado River was precocious declared to beryllium astatine its lowest since the 1930s and different record-breaking occurrence play has blanketed dozens of states successful devastation and smoke. And yet again, beef is being portrayed arsenic the culprit driving clime alteration and these utmost upwind events. It would beryllium convenient if the solution to clime alteration were arsenic elemental arsenic eliminating beef. But it’s not.

Though methane whitethorn thrust headlines, beef cattle lone relationship for 2% of greenhouse gases successful the U.S., according to the EPA. In fact, the U.S. has had the lowest GHG emissions from beef since the 90s.

So, if cattle aren’t ruining the environment, tin they really payment it?

As a fifth-generation rancher, I cognize that beef cattle play a captious relation successful the situation and successful balancing ecosystems.

My great-great-grandfather established our family’s ranch adjacent Kit Carson, a tiny municipality connected Colorado’s Eastern Plains, successful 1907. Today, my 3 brothers, my parents and I tally the Flying Diamond Ranch, honoring the bequest of our predecessors portion besides implementing practices that volition transportation our cognition into the future. We 4 siblings are each successful our 30s and person families of our ain now. We couldn’t beryllium prouder to rise 9 (going connected 10) of the sixth procreation of our household arsenic onshore stewards. No 1 has a greater vested involvement successful sustainable beef accumulation than we do, a information that benefits the consumers of our beef.

After much than 110 years successful this business, my household is nary alien to drought. Kit Carson typically receives lone astir 13 inches of rainfall per year, meaning we indispensable enactment intimately with quality to stay viable. We’ve developed a assortment of strategies to guarantee that we are moving with our grasslands, an ecosystem that requires grazing by ruminant animals to stay healthy. We’ve adjusted our calving play to champion acceptable Colorado’s seasons, and we person utilized rotational grazing for much than 30 years to guarantee each acre of our onshore is rested implicit 95% of the year. Grazing our cattle, followed by agelong remainder periods, allows the ungraded to amended rhythm nutrients, which successful crook allows it to clasp much moisture, truthful equipping it to amended withstand drought. Our ranch’s steadfast soils and h2o retention not lone assistance us, but they besides assistance the watershed our ranch lays connected apical of.  Healthy, functioning watersheds are hugely important to the full colonisation of Colorado, not conscionable those of america successful agriculture.

When ungraded is healthy, it besides sequesters carbon, pulling CO2 retired of the aerial and storing it alternatively successful the crushed wherever it tin beryllium utilized by plants. The operation of cattle dung and cattle hooves further assistance rhythm nutrients into the soil. Plus, cattle tin adjacent assistance mitigate wildfires, arsenic their grazing cuts down the forages that mightiness different enactment arsenic substance for a fire.

We recognize that determination is ever much to learn, which is wherefore we enactment intimately with our onshore assistance university, Colorado State University, and organizations similar the Natural Resources Conservation Service, similar galore ranchers crossed the U.S. We are adjacent an Audubon Society certified ranch; our onshore absorption practices supply situation to dozens of taxon of birds, arsenic good arsenic galore different wildlife. Wildlife flock to our ranch; determination is nary much honorable indicator of our absorption practices than this.

Cattle are not the biology atrocious histrion that they’ve been labeled. Rather, they are cardinal to preserving land, sequestering carbon, mitigating drought and wildfires, and providing wildlife habitat. I don’t blasted consumers for feeling confused astir cattle and the relation they play successful the environment, which is wherefore we’re blessed to stock our communicative and the information down beef’s spot successful a sustainable future.

Jen Johnson Livsey is simply a fifth-generation rancher from Kit Carson, wherever she manages Flying Diamond Ranch with her 3 brothers. She has degrees from Princeton and the King Ranch Institute for Ranch Management, and has implemented galore sustainable practices connected her operation. 

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