Three years ago, the beef industry set its sights on a more sustainable process, and progress is being seen on those goals.
At its convention in 2021, the National Cattlemen鈥檚 Beef Association launched its effort to become more climate neutral and more sustainable, setting the following goals:
- Demonstrate climate neutrality of U.S. cattle production by 2040.
- Create and enhance opportunities that result in a quantifiable increase in producer profitability and economic sustainability by 2025.
- Enhance trust in cattle producers as responsible stewards of their animals and resources by expanding educational opportunities in animal care and handling programs to further improve animal well-being.
- Continuously improve the industry鈥檚 workforce safety and well-being.
鈥淭his is really an effort to improve our sustainable beef supply, and to find some balance,鈥 says Mary-Thomas Hart, chief counsel for NCBA.
She says the plan encourages individual operators to maximize the tools they have at their disposal, with new technology becoming available every year.
鈥淚t really puts us in a unique position,鈥 Hart says. 鈥淚t lets us do more than produce beef.鈥
She says roughly one-third of the grass on the North American continent is grazed.
鈥淭he U.S. has mastered the art of sustainable beef production, and we are seeing a lowering of the greenhouse gas emissions,鈥 Hart says, pointing to lower CO2 emissions in data compiled by the United Nations.
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She adds marketing opportunities may be available for producers who can reach certain targets.
鈥淲e should see things like that for producers who are willing to go above and beyond what is expected,鈥 Hart says.
She says these goals are the result of a grassroots, producer-led process. The Sustainability Goals Task Force was formed in 2021 to evaluate the current state of U.S. beef cattle sustainability, determine which improvements are most critical and help share the story of progress. Members of this working group 鈥 cattle farmers and ranchers from across the U.S. 鈥 led the process and made all decisions, including setting the sustainability goals.
Hart says the industry is well on its way to meeting its 2025 goal, adding the climate neutrality goal set for 2040 is running ahead of pace.
鈥淚f we keep going like we are, we should reach that goal in 2038,鈥 she says.
Other programs have been put in place to help increase climate-smart production.
The American Farmland Trust and partner organizations were recently awarded a $30-million grant from the USDA Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities to spearhead an effort to transition the U.S. beef supply chain to carbon neutral.
The eight-state (Texas, Oklahoma, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi) project 鈥渨ill amplify production of climate-smart beef by expanding market drivers, grassroots support networks and early adopter mentors, while also providing technical assistance for the adoption of climate-smart grazing practices to substantially reduce agricultural greenhouse gas emissions and increase carbon sequestration,鈥 according to a news release.
鈥淲e are excited about the level of impact we will be able to achieve with this project,鈥 said Bianca Moebius-Clune, AFT climate initiative director and principal investigator. 鈥淲e anticipate being able to sequester at least 1 to 5 million tons of CO2 during the 5-year project, but more importantly we project self-sustaining and accelerating expansion of climate smart system adoption and stable, broadly available verified climate smart marketing opportunities beyond the end of USDA funding.鈥