Sheep Industry News March 2023

Animal Agriculture Depends on Sustainability

CAT URBIGKIT The Shepherd

A nimal agriculture is a sustainable component of our global food system, according to Dr. Kim Stackhouse-Lawson, director of Colorado State University’s AgNext program, and trends indicate that documenting the ecosystem services it provides will rise in economic importance in the future. While there are different views on sustainability, Stackhouse Lawson defines it as continuously improving the social, economic and environmental stewardship of the animal agricultural system. The result ensures a safe and nutritious food supply. When it comes to the public’s view of climate change and its contributing factors, science and emotion are on equal footing. But when it comes down to competition between the two, emotion wins every time, she said. In the public debate over greenhouse gas emissions, contributions from grazing ruminants such What gets overlooked is that livestock allows humans to produce food on land that is unsuitable for cultivation while enhancing ecosystems, Stackhouse-Lawson said, and the rangelands they graze store 20 percent of the globe’s soil organic carbon. That’s part of the story we in animal agricul ture need to tell, but it’s important that we have good data to back our claims, she said. As more com panies make commitments to net zero or carbon neutrality, financial institutions are using green bonds, green loans and other systems under a “sustainable finance” umbrella, so animal agricul ture has much to offer for companies focused on natural capital. With more than 1,400 publicly traded companies stating their commitment to achieve net zero emissions or carbon neutrality at some point in the near future, our financial institutions are increas ingly turning their attention to the climate impacts, she said. For example, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed that publicly traded companies be required to disclose their Scope 3 emissions data in corporate filings. That would mean that in addition to direct greenhouse emissions from sources a company owns or controls – called Scope 1 – it would be required to also account for indirect emis sions from purchased electricity – Scope 2 – as well as all other indirect emissions that occur throughout a company’s value chain – Scope 3. as cattle are increasingly targeted, despite the fact that domestic animal agriculture emissions are responsible for only about 4 percent of the na tion’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Yet when a company commits to net zero, it rarely knows how or has plans to achieve these Scope 3 emissions reductions – even though these emissions account for more than 90 percent of emis sions for consumer food companies. To achieve the Biden Administration’s goals to reduce climate impacts, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has proposed adop tion of alternative manure strategies and other methane-reduction efforts, as well as expansion of on-farm generation and the use of renewable energy. Other priorities for the ag sector include devel opment of climate-smart agricultural commodities and increased investments in agriculture methane quantifications. That’s one of the reasons why Stackhouse-Lawson’s AgNext program is so important. The CSU facility includes a Climate Smart Pen installation that is the largest public institu tion research facility of its kind. The facility design

allows for the evaluation of dietary and manage ment strategies that impact animal emissions, efficiency and sustainability. Incorporating grazing and feedlot research in one facility allows researchers to conduct full system evaluations of animal production sustain ability and ecosystem health, and to deter mine the scalability of solutions. Pressure to take action on animal agri cultural emissions is coming from consum

ers, regulators, banks and investors, and carbon markets. With climate a focus of sustainability for the foreseeable future, the importance of accurate measure ments of the impact of animal agriculture will be critical. “The most important thing we can do for soil organic carbon in rangelands is to preserve these rangelands,” Stackhouse-Lawson said, while restoring degraded lands and practicing adaptive live stock management. But we must be able to measure and demonstrate outcomes in the process, and it appears that the developing carbon market will be paying a premium for these efforts. Already, assets under the environmental, social and governance umbrella have reached $41 trillion globally, and are expected to reach $50 trillion by 2025. With global markets investing in sustainable products, animal agriculture needs to put itself in the position to invest in its own sustainability. Stackhouse-Lawson predicted that within two or three years, the carbon market will be developed to such an extent that producers will be financially incentivized to adopt climate smart practices.

March 2023 • Sheep Industry News • 15