Measures to reduce livestock emissions, nutrient recycling, as well as environmentally friendly food-production systems have recently been discussed at an event by EIT Food North-West.
Some of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with livestock production can be reduced by incorporating manures and slurries back onto the land.
This is according to sustainable livestock production lecturer at the University of Leeds Dr. Katie McDermott, who spoke at the event ‘The Role of Livestock in Achieving Net-Zero Targets‘.
Dr. McDermott’s research looks at how nutrient-rich slurries and manures can be safely used instead of inorganic fertiliser, and how insects can be incorporated into this system.
Speaking at the event organised in corporation with ABP Food Group and Zoetis, she said that slurry and manure include microbes, which inherently carry an anti-microbial resistance risk.
An insect bioreactor project at the University of Leeds examines how insects can be used to valorise manure and fertilisers, and whether they can improve the quality of the waste product.
The livestock industry is sometimes seen as the “bad guy” in climate discussions, however, as meat and dairy are very high-quality sources of protein, there has to be compromise, EIT Food North-West director, Jayne Brookman said.
A lot of the simple measures that can be taken to reduce livestock emissions, including a shorter period to slaughter have been adopted into commercial practices, Brookman told Agriland.
Reducing livestock emissions
In terms of genetics, she highlighted the need to ensure that, for the purpose of breeding, genetics are the best not just for muscle mass and taste, but also for the carbon economy.
A recently published report by EIT Food North-West on the ruminant livestock industry and net-zero targets in the UK and Ireland has recommended six measures. These are:
- Standardisation of GHG data to establish baselines and enable benchmarking;
- Cut methane emissions by optimising the age of ruminant livestock slaughter;
- Rewarding farmers through policies;
- Expanding the network of demonstrator farms to underpin research, facilitate knowledge transfer and accelerate transition to net zero;
- Promote land-management strategies for net zero;
- Ensuring a more holistic response by improving the understanding of the complexity of carbon sequestration.
These priority areas, the report states, need to be implemented while recognising the diversity across different ruminant livestock systems, species and geographics.
A combination of solutions will be required to reach the best result. To achieve net-zero targets in the livestock industry, support will be required from all players along the supply chain.
This includes actions from policymakers, additional scientific evidence, and the deployment of innovative solutions from researchers, and consumer acceptance, the report states.
Land sharing vs. land sparing
The principles of two food-production systems – land sharing and land sparing – were explained at the event by Michael Obersteiner from the Environmental Change Institute at Oxford University.
A system under land sharing would see less intensive agricultural production, but widespread wildlife-friendly farmland with focus on local soil carbon and small-scale biodiversity.
However, he said that such a system would lead to a much larger carbon footprint overall. While more diversity is created within the immediate landscape, more land would be needed globally.
In a land-sparing system, agricultural production would be concentrated in the large “breadbaskets” he said, while farmland in the rest of the world would be given back to nature.
Obersteiner explained that while there would be some natural habitat in the global sense, the system is about high-yield conventional agriculture producing at the lowest cost and highest yields.
There are competing calculations, he said, where most of the literature says that land-sparing outcomes are superior than land-sharing ones in terms of biodiversity, GHGs and global production costs.