Dr Chris Parker is a beef producer, respected veterinarian and the current Chief Executive Officer of Cattle Australia. At the helm of Cattle Australia since November 2023, Dr Parker’s focus is on working in collaboration with the organisation’s Board and members to be a powerful voice representing grass-fed cattle producers throughout the country.
Regulations need to catch up to science on beef emissions
Dr Chris Parker
The Australian beef industry plays a unique and important role in the global push to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, however current emissions calculations are stymying its potential to be part of the climate change solution.
There aren’t many industries in the world quite like the Australian beef sector.
We play an important role in food and nutritional security, contribute to the resilience of our communities and nation, and as custodians of more than 50 per cent of the country’s land mass, are proud to play a part in ensuring the sustainability and prosperity of our environment for generations to come.
It’s this last point that is particularly important when we consider Australian agriculture’s significant efforts to be part of the solution to climate change.
Unlike the burning of fossil fuels, the beef industry is not an exhaust pipe into the atmosphere.
More importantly, we are unique, in that methane is the largest attributable greenhouse gas to our sector, rather than carbon dioxide.
Here exists an opportunity. However, to fully realise our potential in this space, we must address a huge limiting factor - greenhouse gas emissions calculations do not reflect the science on beef cattle emissions.
Notwithstanding their warming effect, it is imperative we recognise methane emissions are part of a 12-year, short-lived biogenic cycle.
This means they have a different impact on global warming than emissions from fossil fuels which are additional to the atmosphere and persist for thousands of years, if not millennia.
A 2023 report from the CSIRO, Pathways to climate neutrality for the Australian red meat industry, recognised different targets are needed for different types of emissions in order to measure the industry’s progress towards achieving a state of climate neutrality.
As the peak industry body representing grass-fed beef producers, we have modernised our climate policy and fundamentally support a target to be climate neutral - the point at which emissions from the beef industry will have no additional impact on global temperature rise.
Committed to mitigating emissions
The Australian beef supply chain has shown its significant commitment to mitigating its emissions, with large sections of the industry already sequestering more CO2 than they produce, and we will not deviate from this endeavour.
The scale of Australian grazing land means beef producers also have the ability to sequester carbon in vegetation and soil like no other sector.
Moreover, we must recognise Australian cattle often graze non-arable and native landscapes, where they do an incredible job of transforming cellulose, which is indigestible to humans, into high-quality, nutritious animal protein (beef).
Policy missteps and the way forward
In light of this, it is imperative we focus on the application of the current accounting methodologies, which risk policy missteps and unfair burdens on a critical sector of the economy.
The industry is currently being stymied by a national accounting method that does not reflect the complexity and opportunity of grass-fed enteric methane.
This is due to a fundamental lack of understanding regarding the net position of grass-fed enteric methane emissions, and the fact we are only partially measuring the emissions versus sequestration equation (CO2 capture through biomass).
Particular attention needs to be given to the specific nuances the beef industry has when it comes to GHG emissions, and there needs to be more work done to understand the biogenic nature of methane emissions from grass-fed cattle and the manner in which this contributes both to net GHG emissions and to atmospheric warming.
The consequences of not taking action will potentially involve costly interventions and greater difficulty accessing financial services, which would have direct implications for production costs and asset values.
It is crucial Government and industry research efforts are “in sync”, and producers have access to accurate data on the net effect of both their CO2 and their methane emissions – something which is currently missing.
There is a real opportunity here to further display the benefit of Australian red meat production to the environment, while considering the importance of food security, nutritional security, and the societal role of meat.
Future goals need to continue to stimulate investment to ensure an ongoing positive impact on the climate, in conjunction with the continued productivity and profitability of our sector.
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Trace minerals are required for optimal growth, reproduction, and immunity. Optimising trace mineral status relying solely on oral supplements across a herd may fail because of variation in individual intake and reduced absorption due to antagonism of other ration components and minerals. The use of injectable trace mineral supplements has been associated with positive reproductive outcomes including improved conception rate, increased odds of pregnancy and greater final in calf rate. A study conducted on 2,168 dairy cows, administered injectable trace minerals, four weeks prior to calving and again four weeks prior to the start of mating showed treated animals had a 3.3 per cent greater final in-calf rate, and a reduced time from start of mating to conception, compared to control animals 1 . The Importance of B12 Dr Carl Eden, Technical Services Veterinarian with Boehringer Ingelheim says “Vitamin B12 is sometimes referred to as a ‘super vitamin’ because it is only required in very small amounts but vital to many essential metabolic pathways. However, demand for B12 can vary considerably during the year and we see serum levels of B12 fall at critical times, such as the first few months after calving.” Vitamin B12 contains cobalt, so deficiency in cobalt can lead to deficiency in vitamin B12 because ruminants get most of their B12 as a byproduct of ruminal fermentation where the bacteria in their rumen assemble B12 from cobalt for use by the cow. Sub-optimal trace mineral and vitamin B12 status at calving, mating, and drying off has been shown to negatively impact growth, reproduction, and immunity. Using a trace mineral injectable containing vitamin B12 can improve trace mineral and vitamin B12 status at these critical times. Marks-Min with Vitamin B12 – The Evidence In the largest trace element study to date, Marks-Min Injectable Trace Mineral with Vitamin B12 demonstrated remarkable results when compared to a reference trace mineral injection. “Given the differences between Marks-Min and other products on the market, we wanted to generate a compelling data set to demonstrate how effective it was compared to the pioneer product. We entrusted this work to a third-party research company” says Dr Eden. “We chose farms that were at the top of their game from a reproductive perspective. We made sure that the farms had no evidence of trace element or vitamin B12 deficiencies or excess.” Across all outcomes of interest, Marks-Min demonstrated clear non-inferiority when compared to the reference product. Outcomes measured included submission, pregnancy and conception rates, and six week in-calf rate. Marks-Min demonstrated it is highly suited as an alternative treatment to the reference product. Reference: 1. Hawkins, D., and B. V. S. Franklin. New Zealand Dairy Veterinarians Newsletter 24 (2007): 12-16 Company website: livestockfirst.com.au Company email address: CustomerCare.Australia@boehringer-ingelheim.com Company video: https://vimeo.com/1138807630?fl=pl&fe=cm
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