BBC at it again re meat and climate

Cowabunga

Member
Location
Ceredigion,Wales
Well we certainly saw what happens when fertiliser factories stopped production of CO2 and that was only after a few days, “God help the planet and mankind”, come to think of it I will rephrase that, “God help
Mankind”,the planet will keep going I expect,long after mankind has destroyed it self.
Except we aren't destroying ourselves or other species. It's all 'end of days' crap.The newest parasitic 'religious hysteria' to infect the human population.
 

DaveGrohl

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Cumbria
I saw a chart the other day(I think it was on the BBC News App) which had beef at the top and beef production was meant to have more or use a lot more carbon than any other livestock!!!!
How can the above be possibly true as a lot our beef is produced from beef fed on grass and then perhaps fattened over winter on cereals and silage???? :scratchhead: :scratchhead: :banghead:
It isn't true, it's based around the complete misallocation of methane warming from ruminants. We're all sick to the back teeth of the media bollox being written by people with no understanding of what they're "educating " people about who take their advice from "experts" who simply don't understand their subject.
Edit: Replied before seeing the Duck's post which is sound. I just assumed everyone knew those actual facts off by heart.
 

Pilatus

Member
Location
cotswolds
It isn't true, it's based around the complete misallocation of methane warming from ruminants. We're all sick to the back teeth of the media bollox being written by people with no understanding of what they're "educating " people about who take their advice from "experts" who simply don't understand their subject.
Edit: Replied before seeing the Duck's post which is sound. I just assumed everyone knew those actual facts off by heart.
We can only hope that the NFU is taking the organisations ,media who are promoting this misinformation to task.
What really annoys me is the TV , and Film folk that influence people so much as regards diet and the environment, they are bad news for agriculture.
 

DaveGrohl

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Cumbria
We can only hope that the NFU is taking the organisations ,media who are promoting this misinformation to task.
What really annoys me is the TV , and Film folk that influence people so much as regards diet and the environment, they are bad news for agriculture.
NFU don't seem to have anyone who understands the basics, and it really is basic for anyone with half a brain. If they did they'd be telling everyone at every opportunity. They don't so we have to assume they don't understand. What other conclusion can one come to?
 

Cheesehead

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Kent
We can only hope that the NFU is taking the organisations ,media who are promoting this misinformation to task.
What really annoys me is the TV , and Film folk that influence people so much as regards diet and the environment, they are bad news for agriculture.
The trouble is some of the propaganda that comes from vegan groups etc about GHG comes with an NFU watermark missing the piece about animals mainly raised on grass etc and with the heading North American Feedlots cropped off. With the NFU also using outdated figures when you then point that out are the told well what it the difference between those and these: https://www.agriland.co.uk/farming-news/inside-a-4600-head-beef-finishing-operation-in-the-uk/

All that ends up doing is shooting ourselves in the foot personally there are more on here that would do a better job of promoting livestock farming and UK agriculture.
 

Bald Rick

Moderator
Livestock Farmer
Location
Anglesey
At least the government appear to have dropped their anti-meat position, regarding climate change at least, for now.

The BBC are fighting to retain the licence fee. It's highly probable that they are being briefed by our government to promote certain angles - and climate change is No1 in the top of the pops at the moment.
The eat less meat and dairy forms part of their toolbox to make the UK nett carbon zero by 2050. But I suspect Johnson will, because he is one, trumpet 2040 or sooner at COP26

Fantastic. What a time to be alive
 

BrianV

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Dartmoor
Interviewing two farming brothers who have given up beef farming to save the planet.Also some professor from Lancaster University saying that beef and lamb has the highest carbon footprint of all food with pork and chicken a little lower.
Where do they get their facts from ? Everyone,even Professors, seem to have been brainwashed by the Vegan movement and their agenda.How does a cattle or sheep eating grass have a high carbon footprint ? I would suggest it's the lowest and quite possibly negative if you account for the grass and its carbon capture.NFU chap spoke about eating local,sustainable food and the fact our livestock is pretty sustainable in the UK but he,imo,missed a trick by not pushing the extremely low carbon footprint of grass reared UK beef and lamb.
Again no mention of fossil fuels,energy, industry and the real carbon emitters.
What a pair of wankirs they were, this is a relatively small niche market for oat milk, half a dozen other big arable guys follow suit & their market collapses.
This is the problem with all these new fads, they are only viable until other farmers are forced to go over to suppling that market then it becomes flooded & no longer viable as the price you receive is forced down by the supermarkets.
Organic still only just works because farmers are reluctant to go down that route so it still has a relatively small amount of producers.
Can you imagine what would happen to the green vegetable price if we all gave up livestock & ploughed our land to all grow vegetables, we would all be finished.
Prats that go on the Beeb or any other medium crowing about their latest wonder crop are simply in the process of killing their market & business
 
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cows sh#t me to tears

Member
Livestock Farmer
Interviewing two farming brothers who have given up beef farming to save the planet.Also some professor from Lancaster University saying that beef and lamb has the highest carbon footprint of all food with pork and chicken a little lower.
Where do they get their facts from ? Everyone,even Professors, seem to have been brainwashed by the Vegan movement and their agenda.How does a cattle or sheep eating grass have a high carbon footprint ? I would suggest it's the lowest and quite possibly negative if you account for the grass and its carbon capture.NFU chap spoke about eating local,sustainable food and the fact our livestock is pretty sustainable in the UK but he,imo,missed a trick by not pushing the extremely low carbon footprint of grass reared UK beef and lamb.
Again no mention of fossil fuels,energy, industry and the real carbon emitters.
Why has nobody ever pointed out to these twits that cattle and sheep are vegetarians as well........might make the idiots think twice.
 

delilah

Member
NFU don't seem to have anyone who understands the basics, and it really is basic for anyone with half a brain. If they did they'd be telling everyone at every opportunity. They don't so we have to assume they don't understand. What other conclusion can one come to?

Didn't see the programme. Did the BBC say anything that isn't on the NFU and AHDB websites ?
 

Oldmacdonald

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Scotland
For
The scientific explanation is that they are ruminants and the more forage they eat the more methane they produce. However, a static ruminant population does not increase atmospheric methane because methane only lives for ten years at most and therefore a cow only maintains existing methane levels. More intensively farmed cattle produce less methane per head. Ruminants have roamed the Earth in current or greater numbers since time immemorial and they are certainly not responsible for increasing greenhouse gases.
Neither is the use of nitrogen fertiliser which has just been show to produce essential CO2 that is utilised by non-agricultural industries including for drinks and cooling nuclear reactors. Plus of course, CO2 is essential for plant growth and therefore all life on Earth, which is all carbon based.

I'm not sure there is any evidence for more ruminants existing historically. If you have doke, I'd be interested to see it.
 

Cowabunga

Member
Location
Ceredigion,Wales
For


I'm not sure there is any evidence for more ruminants existing historically. If you have doke, I'd be interested to see it.
Numbers are relatively static. I did not even hint that "far more ruminants existed historically". Although they certainly did over large areas of the globe which are now almost exclusively arable.
Far more cattle are put through slaughterhouses worldwide today than historically, but that is due to a far lower age to finish these days rather than more cattle at any point in time. This is similar in milk production where total milk in the uk is relatively static but from far less cows and farmers than traditionally, due to average yield per cow annually having risen by three fold over seventy years. Therefore the methane produced per pint will have dropped by at least threefold as well over that time, probably more like four to fivefold considering that higher quality forage and more concentrates are fed to achieve that yield, both of which reduce ruminant gasses.

Not sure that you should be concerned with exact figures. The other side just spout any old rubbish propaganda they like and it is repeated by the media and believed. What agriculture needs is effective short phrases that resonate with the common man. Soundbites. Not technical details that go over people’s heads and not farmers like you questioning those sound soundbites.
 
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Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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