Soya and Beef Imports

[DrWazzock]

Amazon soya and beef exports 'linked to deforestation'

UK consumers may unwittingly be buying meat linked to the destruction of the Amazon, experts say.

www.bbc.co.uk

Shouldn’t we be aiming to meet this demand from sustainable home production?
Surely there are opportunities for home grown protein such as beans, peas and lupins and maybe even soya developed for the UK?
Surely UK grass or cereal beef is much more environmentally sound?

If there is government money available then wouldn’t it be better spent on developing sustainable home production then messing about with ELMS?

The report says an area the size of Wales is used to supply the soya requirement of the UK.

Doesn’t it just tell you that the more we reduce production here, the more likely it is that deforestation occurs abroad to produce the food we need?

And how can any uk produced meat that uses imported soya be said to be environmentally sustainable and justify the RT mark?
But I suppose as somebody on here once said, “hypocrisy makes the world go round.”

 

[Muddyroads]

That article was going well until it stated that most of the soya goes into animal feed. How is that quantified? Most of the usable part of soya is husk as I understand it, so by volume, it’s probably correct but the more lucrative part is the oil, which may well end up in vegan food. Funny how that didn’t get mentioned. Typical BBC!

 

[DaveGrohl]

Yup, soya oil is what Americans use above all else. The meal may be a larger percentage of the whole process but it's the oil that's the valuable part. If they stopped using the oil then soya wouldn't be grown, it's that simple. But then that doesn't fit with the let's kick the farmer narrative. Sadly these reports and journalists reporting on them never bother to ask themselves pertinent questions. When the proper perspective is applied it turns out that the EU is merely importing a by-product of the deforestation caused by America's appetite for soya oil.

 

[Full of bull(s)]

Yup, soya oil is what Americans use above all else. The meal may be a larger percentage of the whole process but it's the oil that's the valuable part. If they stopped using the oil then soya wouldn't be grown, it's that simple. But then that doesn't fit with the let's kick the farmer narrative. Sadly these reports and journalists reporting on them never bother to ask themselves pertinent questions. When the proper perspective is applied it turns out that the EU is merely importing a by-product of the deforestation caused by America's appetite for soya oil.

This really gets my goat. By feeding hi pro meal, only a tiny amount of full fat/whole bean is used in ruminant rations, we are utilising a by product just the same as feeding Ensus or Vivergo meal. The soya is grown almost exclusively for human consumption one way or another, if we didn’t use it more land would be used to grow our own protein, displacing more crops for human consumption and the meal would be dumped god knows how creating another environmental disaster no doubt

 

[DrWazzock]

Good to hear these replies. Never as simple as it first seems.

 

[caveman]

So what's the substitute for soya oil and what would the by products be?
Processed animal derived fats?
I've a hunch that where ever these needed oils and fats come from, deforestation will continue apace.
Mother nature will sort the problem soon, with further pandemics that will be impossible to control.

 

[Muddyroads]

Does anyone have reliable figures to back up the above comments about value, consumption and the US market?

 

[Full of bull(s)]

Does anyone have reliable figures to back up the above comments about value, consumption and the US market?

The fact stands that the crop is grown for its oil content, which in turn is on the whole for human consumption whether in food, cosmetics or industrial use. I would think the pig industry will be the biggest consumer of whole beans in the form of full fat soya and soya oil though restricted due to price. If the by product is there use it, the soya oil use should be vilified on environmental grounds not the agricultural use of the by product. Another case of clever deflection from the real problem by corporate money using agriculture as a scapegoat

 

[DrWazzock]

Fascinating when you dig deeper into these things and if it works well no need to “fix” it.
Still interested in trying again at a bit of protein/N self sufficiency at farm level though. But picking up the phone for a bag of soya meal is so much easier and if we are doing folks a favour getting rid of by product well so much the better. Price doesn’t seem like a by product though!

 

[holwellcourtfarm]

So what's the substitute for soya oil and what would the by products be?
Processed animal derived fats?
I've a hunch that where ever these needed oils and fats come from, deforestation will continue apace.
Mother nature will sort the problem soon, with further pandemics that will be impossible to control.

Depends what it's being used for. A lot is used for frying. Sunflower, Rapeseed or Olive Oil can be used for that. Some is used in margarines and to make Soya Milk. Cows milk can replace that. Some is used in cosmetics.

 

[DaveGrohl]

Does anyone have reliable figures to back up the above comments about value, consumption and the US market?

Try Google lol. It's all there, just avoid vegan websites.

 

[DaveGrohl]

So what's the substitute for soya oil and what would the by products be?
Processed animal derived fats?
I've a hunch that where ever these needed oils and fats come from, deforestation will continue apace.
Mother nature will sort the problem soon, with further pandemics that will be impossible to control.

It's an industrial vegetable oil so there's pleanty to choose from without knowing about their individual properties. How big a list do you want? The daft thing is none of them are good for you to eat when compared to animal fats, something that's at last seeing the light of day after being hidden in the dark for decades. You are right though in that any substitiute still needs land to grow on. But let's not detract from the story eh?

 

[Raider112]

That article was going well until it stated that most of the soya goes into animal feed. How is that quantified? Most of the usable part of soya is husk as I understand it, so by volume, it’s probably correct but the more lucrative part is the oil, which may well end up in vegan food. Funny how that didn’t get mentioned. Typical BBC!

I have a lot of fun pointing that out to vegans.

 

[Raider112]

Good to hear these replies. Never as simple as it first seems.

The replies need to go on the original article though, not on here.

 

[Raider112]

So is Helen Briggs a vegan with an agenda or is it just lazy reporting?

 

[Swarfmonkey]

Soybean oil, by volume, is the second most-used cooking oil on the planet.

It’s a classic case of the old “law of unintended consequences” kicking in. When palm oil got a bad rep from the environmental movement buyers started looking for something else to use, hence the increase in soybean production for oil.

DEFRA have published figures on the imports of whole soybeans and soybean products. They are nowhere near the figures the BBC come up with.

 

[kiwi pom]

Why aren't more soybeans grown in the UK?
Climate, market, harder to grow, profit?

 

[tepapa]

If we stopped imports of soya bean meal. There would be a over supply in the US. Price would drop making their feed cheaper and so could import the beef to us cheaper. Maybe we should be buying more to try and get it at a better price.

 

[holwellcourtfarm]

Why aren't more soybeans grown in the UK?
Climate, market, harder to grow, profit?

Climate, so far. Just like grain maize. Plenty have tried and very few managed.

 

[kiwi pom]

Climate, so far. Just like grain maize. Plenty have tried and very few managed.

Not hot enough in the summer and too damp around harvest I suppose?