Cattle and Sustainability
I’m Bob Larson. U.S. beef cattle production has long been a scapegoat for climate change with extremist groups latching onto the idea that animal ag, especially cattle production, is a primary producer of greenhouse gasses.
Kansas cattlewoman and chair-elect for the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, Debbie Lyons-Blythe, says she was hesitant to join the Roundtable, but believes representing the cattle industry is the right thing to do, but …
DEBBIE … “To some of the naysayers that are upset with me for being involved with the Roundtable, I will tell them they are not 100 percent wrong. There are a lot of organizations and groups that are very much against farming and ranching, who are throwing around the word ‘sustainability.’ That does not mean (sustainability) is not coming. We are definitely going to be forced to address this issue.”
She feels being involved is making sure the conversation includes sustainability from the farm and ranch level …
DEBBIE … “If we do not get involved today, we are going to have regulations (enforced) on us. If we can show today, that by having, for example, a grazing-management plan, we are sequestering carbon and already addressing those issues, that their addressing within different accords. So, we feel like that it’s very important, that as farmers and ranchers, we’re directly involved with this organization.”
She says she’s proud of the progress the Roundtable has achieved.
