Food Security, Sustainability and Efficiency: Looking at the Bigger Picture in Beef Production
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Calgary, Alta. (Rural Roots Canada) – As the beef industry faces increasing pressure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and adapt production systems, Alltech’s Research Director for Beef, Dr. Vaughn Holder, says one consideration cannot get lost in the discussion: producing food.
Holder was in Calgary to speak at the International Livestock Congress during the Calgary Stampede this summer, where his presentation focused on the science behind beef production and the global story being told about the industry.
His message centres on looking beyond individual issues, including methane emissions, and considering how cattle fit within much larger food and agricultural ecosystems.
“There’s a lot about just talking about some of the unintended consequences of some of the things that we are proposing, the changes we’re proposing making to our food systems, and what might actually happen if we go through with some of those changes,” Holder said.
For Holder, that bigger-picture discussion starts with food security.
Food security has to remain at the centre
Holder says the first question surrounding changes to agricultural and food systems should be what those changes ultimately mean for food production.
“The number one thing for me is always food security, right? We need to never forget that we’re here as food producers. We make food for a living. Without that, the world is in a lot of trouble,” he said.
That means examining more than the intended outcome of a proposed change. Holder says the potential consequences for the ability of farmers and ranchers to continue producing food also need to be considered.
“So, I really do focus on food security and food production as a core to this concept and what might happen to some of those things if we were to try and restructure those systems. We can’t compromise food production is what I’m getting at here,” he said.
Methane debate is changing how researchers look at cattle
While environmental pressures have created challenges for the cattle industry, Holder says it also resulted in some positive developments.
In particular, scrutiny surrounding methane and greenhouse gas emissions has encouraged researchers to look beyond individual animals and consider how cattle interact with the larger ecosystem.
“Some of this pressure that’s come on the industry, particularly in the methane space, the greenhouse gases space, taught us to look at the system a little bit more broadly,” he said.
Holder says researchers have increasingly had to understand cattle production from an ecosystem perspective rather than simply measuring what enters and leaves the animal.
That change in thinking has also been beneficial for biotechnology development because researchers are looking at the wider production system instead of concentrating solely on the animal.
Telling beef’s story beyond the industry
Communicating that bigger picture is also behind World Without Cows, a documentary Holder discussed during the interview.
Holder says the documentary was not created primarily for people already involved in agriculture. Instead, it is intended to expose people outside the industry to the complexity of cattle production and agriculture.
But he says the project has also had an impact on producers themselves.
“You know, producers don’t ever hear that anymore, and just telling people that, listen, you are important, and what you’re doing is actually contributing positively to the world is just something that a lot of producers need to hear and should hear,” Holder said.
The other audience is people who have little or no direct connection to agriculture.
Holder says the documentary can help those viewers recognize that agriculture and cattle production involve a much bigger picture than what they may encounter through mainstream news headlines.
“And just them understanding that it is a much bigger picture than just the news headlines that they see on BBC or CNN. So that kind of realization to a person who’s not in agriculture is really nice to see that that documentary can do that,” he said.
Traceability can provide benefits despite challenges
Holder also weighed in on increasing cattle traceability requirements in Canada.
He acknowledged that Canada is already well ahead of the United States in some aspects of livestock traceability and that implementing additional requirements can create challenges.
However, Holder believes the ability to follow animals and products through the production system can ultimately benefit the industry.
“This is something that we’ve needed just in terms of, just for our own benefit, to be able to track animals and products through a system like that is really important for us to understand when we’re trying to make changes to a system, whether those changes are actually beneficial,” he said.
Holder says being able to follow something through the entire system allows researchers and the industry to better determine whether an intervention or production change actually delivers the expected result.
“So, I know it’s an enforced change, and it causes some headaches in some places, but I think in general that’s going to be a really positive thing for the industry over here,” he said.
Efficiency remains a major focus for Alltech
Holder says Alltech continues to work with biologicals and biotechnology for cattle and other livestock species, with production efficiency remaining a central objective.
For him, the methane debate has reinforced rather than diminished the importance of efficiency.
“I think the whole methane debate taught us a lot that just losing sight of efficiency just causes the whole thing to collapse in on itself,” Holder said.
That means looking for opportunities to produce more while requiring fewer resources.
“Anything that focuses on the efficiency of production, reduced resource use, increased output is always core to all of our programs,” he said.
Looking at beef production as a complete system
Across those issues, Holder’s comments return to the same underlying theme: cattle production cannot be examined one issue at a time.
Holder says food production ultimately has to remain at the heart of those discussions.
As governments, researchers and the livestock industry consider how food systems may change, his concern is that the consequences of those decisions are examined alongside their intended benefits.
For Holder, the benchmark remains straightforward: changes can improve the system, but they cannot come at the expense of producing food.
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