21 ways beef producers can tackle net zero

Beef sector snapshot

The report by the Centre for Innovation Excellence in Livestock’s (Ciel), Net Zero and Livestock: How Farmers Can Reduce Emissions, provides a snapshot of the beef sector:

• Beef and veal output in the UK totalled £2.9bn in 2020, equal to 11% of the UK gross agricultural input
• Most greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions come from methane via digestion and slurry storage, as well as nitrous oxide – largely from slurry and/or fertiliser applications
• The GHG intensity of UK produced beef is estimated to be about 48kg carbon dioxide equivalent/kg of meat from dedicated beef herds (rather than dairy beef herds)

Expert view: Hefin Richards, independent nutritionist

Many of the mitigations in the Centre for Innovation Excellence in Livestock’s Net Zero and Livestock report focus on nutrition-based strategies, but independent nutritionist Hefin Richards of Rumenation Nutrition Consultancy says the starting point must be much more holistic.

Efficient conversion of feed into beef is determined by a multitude of factors including health, genetics, nutrition, and the animal’s environment.

Focusing on overall efficiency will lead to higher daily liveweight gain and reduce the days to slaughter. This can reduce methane output/kilo of beef significantly, he adds.

Manipulating feeding is part two of the puzzle.

Below, Mr Richards offers his practical advice for emission-friendly feeding.

Feeding higher starch content diets

Fibrous feed sources (such as grass silage) are more commonly associated with higher methane production/kilo of intake. Feeding some starch – such as cereal grains or potatoes, or their co-products – will generally improve rumen function and lower methane output.

Lower methane production also improves feed conversion efficiency because energy losses are reduced.

Feeding starch to every grazing animal may not be practical, but if any supplementary feed is used at grass, a combination of starch and rumen-friendly fibre will help improve grass protein utilisation and reduce emissions.

Lower crude protein levels

Overfeeding protein is expensive, wasteful, and bad for the environment. By analysing forages and weighing animals, feeding programs can be fine-tuned to optimise protein utilisation and reduce nitrogen losses via manure and urine.

Excess rumen degradable protein is excreted as urea, further reducing feed efficiency and performance.

Underfeeding protein can also limit performance, which will impact on days to slaughter and margins, so there is a balance to be found.

Methane-reducing inhibitors and specialist additives

Feed additives such as rumen buffers, yeast and fibre degradation enhancers improve rumen health, forage digestibility and nitrogen use efficiency.

Where products have been shown to improve feed utilisation and animal performance, there will be a corresponding reduction in carbon footprint as the number of days to slaughter will be reduced.

There is now also widespread research into feed additives that limit methane production in the rumen. These may well prove to be a game-changer, and their use may be cost-efficient or cost-neutral.

There may also be a market cost for beef with a clearly defined lower carbon footprint.

Improving forage quality

Animal performance can be improved, and reliance on purchased concentrates reduced, by making and feeding better-quality conserved forage. This is achieved by:

• Earlier cutting
• Focusing more on the role of additives
• Clamp consolidation
• Effective sealing to minimise dry matter (DM) energy and protein losses
• Using multispecies swards to promote better intake and utilisation.

When grazing animals, allocate grass and monitor grazing platforms regularly to ensure cattle are utilising grass effectively.

Limiting intake will stifle performance and excessive allocations will lead to selective grazing, high residuals, and poor-quality regrowth.