Agricultural News
Let's Be Clear - Sustainability is All About Staying in Business
Mon, 12 Sep 2016 14:38:51 CDT
When people think about sustainability, they often have different interpretations from others. That is what makes grasping the concept of a sustainable beef operations so difficult sometimes, according to Dr. Sara Place of Oklahoma State University's Animal Science Department. Specializing in the area of sustainable beef practices, Dr. Place tells Radio Oklahoma Network's Ron Hays that she likes to define sustainability as a multifaceted way of thinking.
"The way I always like to define sustainability, if you are an individual beef producer," Place said, "is that you're going to be paying attention to long-term business viability, stewardship of the natural resources you're taking care of, and thinking about the responsibility to your family, to the bigger community and of course to the animals."
Dr. Place says that like any business that wants to accomplish anything, your first consideration has to be the economics; you have to stay in business to do anything, including being sustainable. Stewardship of your resources, she says, could entail how you manage your forage program or what steps you take to create wildlife habitat on your property.
The trickiest part she says though is the social aspect. For your family, Dr. Place says sustainability in your operation means it has the potential to remain economically viable and is able to be passed down to your children or heirs. Dr. Place says too, that we must consider the larger community and society as a whole for that matter. This is where confusion often manifests about sustainable agriculture because producers have to understand all the differences in expectations that people in society have about it. The final part is your responsibility to care for the animals you raise. Dr. Place says that when it comes to the social factor, you just need to be open and share the good work you are doing on your operation.
"Stay in business, take care of your land, take care of your animals and your family," Place said, "that's what sustainability is."
Listen to Dr. Sara Place explain her views on sustainability in the beef industry with Farm Director Ron Hays on today's Beef Buzz.
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Network and is 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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