Reducing the meat and livestock industry's environmental footprint

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.