Agricultural News
US Animal Agriculture Champions of Production Efficiency
Fri, 05 Sep 2014 12:06:19 CDT
If you are beef cattle producer, if you are a dairy farmer, you are a champion of the environment. In a interview with Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm News Director Ron Hays, Dr. Frank Mitloehner of the University of California Davis said modern production agriculture techniques make the US the best in the world.
"We today produce twice as much beef today with half the number of animals as we did 50 years ago," Mitloehner said.
You can listen to the fourth part of this series with Dr. Mitloehner by Clicking on the LISTEN BAR below.
Mitloehner said the same is true for the dairy sector.
"We have shrunk our herds so much that we have multiplied the amount of output by these animals and that means we are extremely efficient," Mitloehner said.
Mitloehner is world renowned when it comes to animal agriculture and green house emissions. He said when environmental footprint calculations are done correctly it shows very clearly that the US is least polluting industry. He said the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and others have stated production efficiency is inversely related to pollution.
"That means when production per animal goes up, pollution goes down and that's what we are good at in this country, but we are not good at telling the public our story," Mitloehner said.
In calculating the carbon foot print Mitloehner said agriculture needs to use production efficiency as well as sustainable intensification of production.
"Sustainable intensification means you're not just looking at being most efficient and most productive," Mitloehner said. "But you're also looking at other sustainabilty areas like animal welfare, environmental quality, food safety, worker health and safety, worker training."
"Those things make up the sustainability of your operation and that's what the public wants to see and that is what's best for your operation," Mitloehner said.
Listen to previous Beef Buzz Features with Dr. Mitloehner -
Click Here to listen or read part one of this series with Dr. Frank Mitloehner addressing green house gas emmissions of livestock.
Click Here to listen or read part two of this series with Dr. Frank Mitloehner addressing the myth of Meatless Mondays.
Click Here to listen or read part two of this series with Dr. Frank Mitloehner addressing research that blames cattle for methane emissions
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Network- but is also a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR below for today's show- and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
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