U.K. dairying and “Climate Change”

[holwellcourtfarm]

Strictly back to the thread title, dairy cattle numbers in the UK have been falling for decades. Under GWP* the climate warming effect of UK dairy farms is zero or even slightly negative. Why should UK dairy farmers have to change their business practice when it's the rest of UK society that's causing the problem?

Sure, globally, dairy cattle numbers are increasing and that's a big deal for warming impact but it's irrational to hold UK dairy farmers to account for what's happening abroad, isn't it?
Especially when we are not even self-sufficient in milk.

(BTW, I'm a beef breeder not a dairy farmer).

 

[Treg]

Strictly back to the thread title, dairy cattle numbers in the UK have been falling for decades. Under GWP* the climate warming effect of UK dairy farms is zero or even slightly negative. Why should UK dairy farmers have to change their business practice when it's the rest of UK society that's causing the problem?

Sure, globally, dairy cattle numbers are increasing and that's a big deal for warming impact but it's irrational to hold UK dairy farmers to account for what's happening abroad, isn't it?

(BTW, I'm a beef breeder not a dairy farmer).

Also if the alternatives to dairy ( almond / soya milk ) are fair worse for the environment , surely our dairy farmers should be having a pat on the back .

 

[mixed farm]

Your point is technically correct. As s parent of only one child I'll accept your rule in return for you agreeing not to force my child to look after you in old age or to complain about provision for the elderly.......

Only if I don't have to pay for their child benefit and education!

 

[Bald Rick]

Strictly back to the thread title, dairy cattle numbers in the UK have been falling for decades. Under GWP* the climate warming effect of UK dairy farms is zero or even slightly negative. Why should UK dairy farmers have to change their business practice when it's the rest of UK society that's causing the problem?

Sure, globally, dairy cattle numbers are increasing and that's a big deal for warming impact but it's irrational to hold UK dairy farmers to account for what's happening abroad, isn't it?
Especially when we are not even self-sufficient in milk.

(BTW, I'm a beef breeder not a dairy farmer).

It’s a good point about declining cow numbers

But it won’t stop the message of “reduce dairy (& meat) consumption” from every environment / climate report being waved at our government

 

[holwellcourtfarm]

It’s a good point about declining cow numbers

View attachment 961852

But it won’t stop the message of “reduce dairy (& meat) consumption” from every environment / climate report being waved at our government

True but it is their achillies heel. UK dairying is already cooling the planet. Almost all other commercial activity is warming it. Targeting dairying is a dangerous short term diversion.

 

[Farmer Keith]

It’s a good point about declining cow numbers

View attachment 961852

But it won’t stop the message of “reduce dairy (& meat) consumption” from every environment / climate report being waved at our government

look at the shift in age at first calving over the past 5 years, that’s bound to be a carbon positive!

 

[holwellcourtfarm]

look at the shift in age at first calving over the past 5 years, that’s bound to be a carbon positive!

What shift? Not being in dairying I'm not aware. We aim to calve heifers at 2 years in our suckler herd.

 

[Farmer Keith]

What shift? Not being in dairying I'm not aware. We aim to calve heifers at 2 years in our suckler herd.

In 2014 there was 400000 cattle over 24 months not calved and by 2020 there’s on 265000. Cow numbers are relatively static so you’d assume that’s from a reduction in age at first calving. Or that’s how I interpreted the table anyways.

 

[delilah]

surely our dairy farmers should be having a pat on the back .

An abiding memory of milking is that you got plenty of pats on the back.

You miserable lot need to give your heads a wobble. If the boffins wanted to design the most environmentally efficient machine to convert natures bounty into nutrient dense food for humans, they would come up with the cow. She is the only thing standing between us and climate breakdown. Stop being so friggin useless and tell that to the world.

 

[delilah]

Educate, agitate, organise.

 

[O'Reilly]

Also if the alternatives to dairy ( almond / soya milk ) are fair worse for the environment , surely our dairy farmers should be having a pat on the back .

Providing we don't feed cows on soya and other imported feedstuffs of dubious origin

 

[delilah]

Providing we don't feed cows on soya and other imported feedstuffs of dubious origin

We don't feed cows on soya.
What is the £/t of soya meal ? What is the £/t of soya milk ? Which would you say is driving the market ?
WTF is wrong with you people ? You got a death wish or something ?

 

[Ball acre]

Educate, agitate, organise.

TPE!

 

[DaveGrohl]

Gave up reading this as I couldn’t cope with the writing style ...

Can dairy adapt to climate change?

Amid polarised debate, Emily Kasriel asks how dairy farmers see the role of their industry in climate change – and finds a mixture of doubt, denial and commitment to change.

www.bbc.com

Holy cow, that is weapons grade bollox/propaganda. I got to methane is more potent than nitrous oxide and couldn't take any more. How do these people get jobs?

 

[holwellcourtfarm]

Holy cow, that is weapons grade bollox/propaganda. I got to methane is more potent than nitrous oxide and couldn't take any more. How do these people get jobs?

Well spotted, somehow i'd missed that. I'll make a formal complaint later when I'm on the PC.

 

[holwellcourtfarm]

Holy cow, that is weapons grade bollox/propaganda. I got to methane is more potent than nitrous oxide and couldn't take any more. How do these people get jobs?

I have just submitted a complaint regarding that item as follow:

I have just read through the "BBC Future Planet" piece around the climate impact of the dairy industry and there are some serious issues and innacuracies in it.

Early in the piece the claim is made: "Where better to start than dairy: in 2015, the industry's emissions equivalent to more than 1,700 million tonnes of CO2 made up 3.4% of the world's total of almost 50,000 million tonnes that year. That makes dairy's contribution close to that from aviation and shipping combined (which are 1.9% and 1.7% respectively)." This is a global position. Here in the UK the whole farming sector accounts for only around 10% of emissions according to official figures, Livestock make up half of that and cattle and sheep around half of that so 2.5% of overall emissions is more truthful. It is therefore somewhat unreasonable of a UK based media company not to point this out.


The bulk of the climate impact of UK dairy production is from the assessed impact of the cows' methane emissions. Under GWP*, the most appropriate way to assess methane, the critical issue is the change in methane emissions over a 10 to 12 year period. If emissions fall then the net effect is actually one of COOLING. UK dairy cow numbers have been falling for decades. Thus claiming that the ongoing global increase in dairy cow numbers is greatly contributing to global warming is correct but misleading to UK readers.


The piece states at one point "Methane, the most potent of these greenhouse gases, is first produced as the cow digests its food. " This factually untrue. Nitrous oxides have a much greater warming impact than methane and also last in the atmosphere even longer than CO2.


Such statements call the accuracy of the whole piece into serious question but, simply by publishing them, the majority of the public will believe them to be true.