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Article Excerpt
KEY POINTS
* Grazing is the single most extensive form of land use on the planet and, therefore, livestock producers bear a major responsibility for environmentally sustainable production practices.
* The major environmental challenges facing the meat and livestock industry in Australia are not unique, but they are pressing. They include the need to limit the generation of greenhouse gases, to conserve ecosystems and biodiversity, and to ensure the efficient use of freshwater. These issues will drive change in production systems for the Australian livestock industry.
* Methods to reduce methane production from cattle and sheep are under investigation, although significant challenges remain.
* Grazing systems for both cattle and sheep need to be integrated into landscape systems to sustain biodiversity.
* The Australian livestock industry needs to calculate and environmentally cost the use of freshwater to produce food and fibre. Current methods of calculating water use in livestock production are controversial and provide widely differing estimates.
* The unique and important nutritional properties of red meat should not be lost in the debate about the environmental impact of the meat and livestock industry in Australia. Nor should the environmental costs of alternative food production.
INTRODUCTION
Global production of meat is projected to more than double from 229 million tonnes in 1999/2001 to 465 million tonnes in 2050, but the bulk of this increase is predicted to occur in China, India and Brazil. (1) The increase in demand for meat and animal products is predicted to be even stronger than for other food items, and will be driven by urbanising populations and increases in income. (1) Australia is the second largest exporter of beef and veal in the world, and these exports have continued at a record pace in 2007, despite the stronger Australian dollar and weakening demand in some overseas markets (personal communication, Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA), April 2007). In fact, beef and veal exports are the top export earner from the agricultural sector, ranking sixth in dollar value in commodity exports behind the mining commodities. Wool and dairy products are also in the top 15 export income earners. Therefore, the meat and livestock sector has a primary and growing role not only in the agricultural economy but also in the Australian economy. Meat is also an important determinant of human health and diet. Even after the projected doubling of global demand for livestock products by 2050, per capita consumption levels of meat in developing countries will not be more than half the level of developed countries. (1) The major issue with the increase in world meat consumption is the fact that the livestock sector already places stress on many ecosystems and contributes to global environmental problems. (2) The major environmental challenges facing the meat and livestock industry are those facing many industries in Australia. They are not unique, but they are pressing. The challenges include: climate change and global warming through increases in greenhouse gases, the effect of grazing on ecosystems, preserving biodiversity, the supply and efficient use of freshwater, the competition for land use and negotiation with the community for that use, and most importantly, providing good nutrition to the community, all of which must be achieved while generating an economic return through the supply chain for producers, processors and rural communities. Only by adopting a systems approach (i.e. evaluating the agricultural, environmental, economic and social dimension of any problem) will the meat and livestock industry become more environmentally sensitive, while simultaneously delivering economic profitability and social equity.
LAND USE FOR GRAZING
Currently, grazing and cropland dedicated to the production of feed for livestock is humanity's largest land use occupying more than 3.4 billion hectares or 26% of the ice-free global land surface, making it the single most extensive form of land use on the planet. (1) Growth in the livestock sector has consistently exceeded that of the crop sector. While the total demand for animal products in developing countries is expected to more than double by 2030, the demand for animal products in the industrialised countries like Australia has been growing at low rates, and livestock production in this group of countries is expected to grow only slowly over the projection period. In developing countries, extensive grazing systems have typically increased production by herd expansion rather than by substantial increases in productivity. However, globally the market share from these extensive systems is declining relative to other production systems. Moreover, the availability of rangelands is decreasing, through arable land encroachment,...
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