Research plays a key role in narrative about cattle and climate

By Lilian Schaer for Livestock Research Innovation Corporation

This past winter, Alltech hosted the first-ever Canadian screening of its documentary A World Without Cows. The film provides an unbiased, global perspective on the relationship between cows and the environment. 

According to Livestock Research and Innovation Corporation (LRIC) CEO Kelly Somerville, in a film full of compelling statistics and powerful imagery, one quote stood out: “Farmers are the world’s worst communicators.”

“We hear it all the time—agriculture needs to do a better job of telling its story and this film is one way to push the conversation beyond the usual echo chambers and foster an important dialogue about livestock’s role in our world,” says Somerville. 

LRIC, although not directly public facing, plays a critical role in supporting the organizations shaping agriculture’s narrative, ensuring that sound science is available and accessible to inform public discussions about livestock and the environment. 

Research that benchmarks environmental performance and highlights the continual improvements by Canadian livestock producers is essential to providing a full and balanced picture, and Somerville notes that Ontario is home to some world-class research on the environmental impacts of livestock as well as cutting-edge facilities at the Agricultural Research and Innovation Ontario (ARIO) research stations. 

“That’s why I jumped at the chance when I was asked to moderate a panel featuring our members and partners. It was a great opportunity to address an audience of agricultural stakeholders and dive into some of the key points raised by the documentary – from the environmental, social, and economic impact of cattle globally to the ongoing efforts of producers the world over to increase efficiencies,” Somerville adds.  

Panelists included Dr. Michael Lohuis, Vice President of Research and Innovation at Semex Alliance; Martha Baker, Global Director Carbon Markets at Alltech; Craig McLaughlin, president of Beef Farmers of Ontario; and Laurie Stanton, dairy farmer and owner of Stanton Dairy near London. 

When we’re challenging misconceptions, what do you think is one of the most misunderstood aspects of cattle? 

Laurie Stanton: The balance with methane. When you look at the whole picture and how methane is recycled through (nature), we should stress that more. Also, about how important the cow is to society everywhere and how the cow does so much for us. 
Craig McLaughlin: We aren’t controlling the narrative. The people telling the story aren’t part of the industry. We are doing good things, and that story is not being told. 
Martha Baker: The two thirds of my business card example (Editor’s note: the film showed an example illustrating that the world’s non-usable land made up about 2/3 of a business card; the remaining third is land suitable for growing crops). It’s an easy way to have a conversation about land use and the importance of grazing animals.
Michael Lohuis: What’s misunderstood is the methane isn’t the same as carbon dioxide (CO2). Methane leaves the atmosphere after 10 years, so as long as we keep it constant, we aren’t contributing to warming but CO2 is fundamentally different. 

What is the role of breeding and genetic improvement to help mitigate environmental impacts? 

Lohuis: It takes many small solutions in the tool box, like methane mitigation supplements in the feed, or genetics. It’s now possible through genomic selection to select for feed efficiency, immunity, and methane reduction. Genetics is a permanent solution and cumulative over generations so over time, it can really help us raise the level of the animals and how sustainable they are.

How do we feed the growing population with farmers asked to do so much more and how do we balance sustainability with this?  

McLaughlin: Give farmers a challenge and they will do it. I take pride in being a farmer. Research has improved my farm more than anything, producing more with less and (improving) the survivability of calves.
Baker: I haven’t met a single producer who says they are producing the same as they were when they started farming. We lean on researchers to make us better and our carbon footprint goes down per kilogram of production.
Lohuis: I see the technology that is out there, and I know we will be able to feed 10 billion (people by 2050). It gives me pleasure when I hear someone from Kenya being able to send their kids to medical school because of livestock. If you can produce twice as much meat or milk with same animals, you could reduce the footprint of agriculture and that’s encouraging to me. Going back to the past is not a solution, you can’t solve tomorrow’s problem with yesterday’s tools.
Stanton: I’m looking forward to the challenge. We look at closing our environmental loops, tie in the crop acres and how we manage manure. The nitrogen part of manure still challenges us to get the right answer; there are a lot of little things, and everybody is working on those.

With consumers and government driving initiatives and policies, how can producers stay ahead of the curve?  
Baker: Lenders are looking at ESG (environmental, social and governance) policies and that determines the interest rates – are we reaching the goals for 2030 and 2050? The biggest lenders are making claims in the Scope Three emissions of their supply chain which includes farms, yet most farms don’t have a baseline. Organizations use global averages and in North America we are far below those with respect to our carbon footprint, so do a carbon assessment and understand where you are at. With each one do, you can show the progress you are making.

What were your “a-ha moments” from the documentary? 

Stanton: Having people visit our farms is a very good thing. We host quite a few visitors: the city council and the mayor etc come out and we talk to them about what we do. If you come across as genuine, people will be accepting and will become your advocate. 
McLaughlin: The number of byproducts from cows: leather, cosmetics etc. Farm and Food Care Ontario do Breakfast on the Farm to get the urban crowd out. It resonates that message of how people need to see what we’re doing. 
Baker: When we talk about ESG, the movie combines the E and the S really well. The population gets a bit caught in Environmental, but lose sight of the Social, which is the economics. 
Mike: Upcycling an acre of corn or soybeans through an animal lets you feed 17 people vs 3. That’s pretty powerful. (Editor’s note: one acre of corn or soybeans can meet the nutritional needs of three children but the same acre “upcycled” through cattle can meet those same needs in 17 children.)    

Alltech, an LRIC member, is focusing its initial outreach around the film on the agriculture industry and taking requests and proposals for private and industry event screenings. The long-term goal is having the documentary shared on a major streaming service such as Netflix. 

This article has been published in Ontario Beef, The Connection, and Milk Producer. 

Livestock Research Innovation Corporation is funded in part by the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership (Sustainable CAP), a 5-year, federal-provincial-territorial initiative. This article is provided by LRIC as part of its ongoing efforts to report on research, innovation, and issues affecting the Canadian livestock industry.