Agriculture and Environment: Beef

Introduction

Beef production has several distinct and significant impacts on the environment.

The impacts vary somewhat from one country to another and depend on the specific part of the beef production process being considered.

Perhaps most important, unlike many other agricultural commodities, cattle have significant impacts on a wide range of ecosystems because they can be produced under such a variety of conditions and are literally capable of walking themselves to market.

Globally, the largest environmental impact of agriculture in general is the use of land for pasture. More pasture is used for cattle than all other domesticated animals and crops combined.

In addition, cattle eat an increasing proportion of grain produced from agriculture, are one of the most significant contributors to water pollution, and area major source of greenhouse gas emissions. Finally, processing cattle into meat, meat by-products, and leather is a major source of pollution in many countries.