It's hard to go a day without seeing headlines about the environment in the news. Reducing our carbon footprint is a huge concern for much of our population. In addition, the media is heavily focused on identifying the source of greenhouse gasses and encouraging consumers to do something about it. Far too often, agriculture is blamed for our world's environmental problems. In yesterday's newsletter, I sent an article from
The Beef Site titled, "
Measuring Livestock's Large Carbon Footprint," and it was not favorable towards beef production. In my opinion, it is incredibly important to share these articles with everyone involved in the beef industry chain, so we can remain aware of the views of the general public.
However, I hate to always be the messenger of bad news, and I was excited to run across an article in Feedstuffs Magazine titled, "Ag Reduces Footprint." This article details how farmers are being asked to produce more while also conserving more. To read the entire article and view the corresponding charts, link to Feedstuffs.
Although this was a favorable article towards food production, we are all aware and can admit that agriculture should clean up its act in a few areas of production. Now, don't get me wrong; I believe that livestock producers are both nurturers of animals and stewards of the land. However, I think that we need to become proactive to improve our management practices to better the environment. If we don't make the conscious decision to fix these problems ourselves, then it is guaranteed that animal rights activists will continue to pass burdensome legislation to make the appropriate changes for us.
So, what's it going to be? Will we stand up as an industry to improve our management practices and further invest in the environment, or will we wait until activists force it upon us with outrageous, voter-appealing legislation? It's time we start taking a stronger approach to these rules before the industry completely capsizes under the weight of their affects. Let me know what you think; I'm interested to hear your point of view on this heavy topic.
