Talk: Agriculture is bad for the environment.
Truth: Agriculture efficiently cleans up greenhouse gases and converts them into oxygen.
Agriculture (livestock production specifically) has been incorrectly linked to causing high greenhouse gas emissions. Some have even recommended cutting back on meat consumption. It is certainly up to you. However, as a beef producer, I want you to make your decisions based on facts. According to the USDA, beef production makes up only 3.3% of all U.S. greenhouse gas emissions (and U.S. beef producers are working all the time to be even more efficient). As a comparison, transportation and electricity make up 56% of emissions.
If you’re worried about greenhouse gas emissions, there is good news in agriculture. In the video below, I explain how we have this incredible cycle of crop production that pulls carbon dioxide (CO2) out of the air and then releases oxygen (O2). The corn and soybeans are used to feed our livestock, which emit methane, which is converted into CO2, and then our crops pull down and absorb the CO2 in the atmosphere and release more oxygen (O2) to complete the cycle.
Here’s a surprising fact. According to NASA, the Midwest is producing 40% more oxygen during peak summer growing months than the Amazon Rain Forest. How cool is that? For me, beef production along with corn production is part of a circle that benefits our environment and feeds our bodies important nutrients that are part of a healthy diet.
To view the entire NASA report, click here. https://www.nasa.gov/press/goddard/2014/march/satellite-shows-high-productivity-from-us-corn-belt/?fbclid=IwAR1pJc1ECSF40zq7GgfjvD3zFnlGSGP4vRGJjRCboUY7ouERPCpJpvqFFt8