Summary
Cattle production was found to have high negative impacts on greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) compared to other types of meat production, such as poultry and pork, because of their need for large pasture sizes to graze. Beef production contributes 41% of all GHG emission when looking at farmed animal production. The authors propose that intensive animal production (lessening the time to slaughter through producing larger animals faster in feedlots) could be a solution to mitigating beef’s GHGS emissions in light of growing meat demands. A strength of this study is the examination of all three types of beef farming (intensive, intermediate, and extensive). A limitation is the many political, social, and economic problems with this strategy. For example, intensification will decrease animal welfare and would be challenging in developing countries due to the cost. This study suggests that mitigating GHGs from livestock will require more intensive systems raising concerns for many stakeholders.
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