04/22/2022
Earth Day Bulletin: Cows are really COOL!
-- Modern cattle are a COOL part of a biogenic carbon cycle that has existed since the beginning of life.
-- As the total U.S. cowherd remains constant, the result is climate neutrality because NO NEW METHANE is being added.
-- Even better, the number of dairy cattle in the U.S. today is 40% LESS than in 1950 -- but they are producing MORE nutrient-dense milk and dairy products to feed MORE people. This means the resulting climate impact per gallon of milk or pound of cheese is LESS.
-- The amount of methane emitted by cows, and the amount of methane destroyed via the biogenic cycle is happening simultaneously -- balancing each other out -- meaning no additional methane is added to the atmosphere, and that means no new warming.
-- Methane from cattle is a 'flow gas.' As it is emitted it is also destroyed.
-- Before there were dairy and beef herds in the U.S., there were millions of wild buffalo and larger numbers of other wild ruminants emitting methane in the biogenic cycle.
-- U.S. cattle are already climate neutral by the cycle, and better than climate neutral by their COOL productivity.
-- PLUS, the many conservation practices farmers use -- such as cover crops, reduced tillage, intensive grazing, crop rotations, soil and nutrient testing, precision farming, feeding a wide variety of food processing byproducts and fibers like citrus pulp, potato peelings, and almond hulls, as well as investments in new ways to feed cattle as well as new ways to handle and utilize manure -- all of these things make cattle a really COOL SOLUTION in terms of climate, water quality, environmental biodiversity and more.
-- Farmers and their cattle accomplish all of this while utilizing marginal lands that would not support cultivation of crops for human consumption.
-- Cattle convert plant matter and byproducts -- that humans cannot digest -- into delicious nutrient-dense milk, dairy products and beef.
-- The cattle and the plants are part of a life-giving, nourishing, economy-driving, climate neutral cycle.
-- Real milk is made from real plants by real cows on real farms, and the whole cycle is really COOL.
Here's a COOL video on the topic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOPrF8oyDYw&t=5s
