The Critical Role of Ruminants

Previously  published as commentary in the Idaho Falls Post Register, April 27, 2018.

As cattle ranchers we’re accustomed to criticism. Grazing is seen as an extractive industry even though grass grows back and thrives when properly grazed. Beef is seen as unhealthy, when it’s one of the most nutrient-dense foods we can eat. Animal rights advocates want our heads and fake meat aims to fill the protein case.  

But still we were shocked to read a New York Times Opinion piece promoting a carbon tax on beef. So climate change is our fault as well? What the reader doesn’t realize, however, is the breathtaking reductionist thinking of this premise.  

   

Ruminants emit methane, a potent greenhouse gas, but ruminants are on earth for a reason and have played a critical role in the cycling of plants for eons. In brittle environments - those with seasonal moisture - grazing animals have a symbiotic relationship with grass. And grass is the most ubiquitous, life giving, soil anchoring protector of the planet we have.

Grass needs periodic removal. The growth point is near the soil surface and the plant needs a grazing animal or other disturbance to remove old growth.

Tragically, for many thousands of acres annually worldwide, that disturbance is fire, used to provide a clean slate for new growth. Instead of using grazing animals which provide an economic return, the land is burned, releasing tons of carbon into the atmosphere needlessly. Of course, closer to home in the West, wildfire is the greatest threat to healthy ranges and grazing is a readily available tool to reduce the fuel load.       

Grazing by hooved ruminants affect the soil surface positively as well. The chipping of soil makes a seedbed, old growth is pushed down as litter to moderate temperatures and slow erosion, and dung and urine are deposited.  

Taking the long view, herbivores’ unique niche provides for other living beings in an ingenious way. Most of the world is like Idaho and has a short growing season. In these climates, herds of herbivores take the bounty of that green season, convert it into muscle (and milk) and make the energy and nutrients produced by plants available to meat eaters the rest of the year.

It’s estimated that 60% of the earth’s landmass is unsuitable for cultivation – a perfect job for ruminants. Alarmingly this land is turning to desert in the U.S. and around the world partially because of the lack of periodic grazing and hoof action. Desertification releases carbon, therefore climate change and degraded landscapes are tightly linked.

Can the modern beef industry do better? Of course. We need to educate ourselves and do all we can to cycle carbon through smart, time-controlled grazing. We need to promote biodiversity in our pastures and refine and rethink the feedlot model.

I suspect I share a similar worldview with the author of the piece in the Times. We both care about our fragile planet. But those who vilify beef walk a dangerous line. We are intimately dependent on natural cycles, despite the breadth of modern technology. Removing a ruminant actively managed by man that can regenerate degraded landscapes is foolhardy. 

turning what we can't digest into nutritious food