Grazing ruminants can compete with our current industrialized cattle system

A comment I often hear from fellow producers and other agriculture enthusiasts is that grazing cattle, or in other words grass-fed beef just can’t compete with grain fed beef. People often say “there just ins’t enough land to support that many cattle.” Did you know that 36% of the crops grown are for animal feed? Here is yet another study that examines our need for grazing ruminants. Check out the link below to learn more.

Grazed perennial grasslands can match current beef production while contributing to climate mitigation and adaptation. by Randall D. Jackson

First published: 18 February 2022

Link: https://doi.org/10.1002/ael2.20059

Abstract: The U.S. grain-finished beef system is highly productive but has many negative consequences for human health and well-being because it pollutes surface and groundwaters, exacerbates flooding, reduces biodiversity, and contributes to climate change. Moving the entire U.S. grain-fed beef production system to a grass-finished system is possible without displacing food production and under conservative soil carbon (C) change estimates would result in a reduced but similar C footprint, while improving soil health, water quality, and biodiversity. More optimistic estimates for soil C accumulation indicate the system would result in significant atmospheric C drawdown. Agroecological transformation like this is limited only by our imagination and policies that incentivize agriculture for the public good rather than profits for a few.