Cattleman Responds to Anti-Cattle Editorial

Haylie Shipp

Last month the New York Times ran an opinion piece that was entitled “Meet the People Getting Paid to Kill our Planet” and it targeted livestock producers as well as the cattle industry as a whole. Farmers and ranchers nationwide criticized the piece as being riddled with information and lacking credible sources.

As we focus on reaching out to consumers during this National Ag Week, Cameron Mulrony, Executive Vice President of the Idaho Cattle Association, says the goal of every cattle producer is to have green grass and clean water for their cows…

“Those cattle provide a service to the ecosystem. We cycle carbon, there is a carbon cycle, and methane is part of that cycle, and that’s where that misinformation sometimes gets out there.”

Mulrony noted that for vegetation left in forest for rangeland areas, the only other option for the carbon cycle is fire…

“Cattle grazing provides more growth. If we never mowed our lawns and we let it grow one time a year and then let it turn brown, we wouldn’t have the volume that we get every year where we mow that yard on a daily or weekly basis, whatever your system is. And the cattle provide that same service.”

Mulrony adds when cattle graze responsibly, it’s good for the entire ecosystem. According to the EPA, beef cattle are responsible two percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States.