Researcher: Reducing Irish beef herd will up global GHG emissions
Researchers estimate that for every animal displaced from the Irish beef herd, 7-8 tonnes of carbon will be added to global emissions. Picture: Andy Gibson
A prominent agricultural researcher has warned that for every beef animal lost from Irish production, another seven to eight tonnes of carbon will be added to net emissions globally to meet consumer demand for beef.
Speaking at the 2023 Bord Bia Meat Marketing Seminar, Paul Crosson, from Teagasc’s Research Beef Enterprise, explained that reducing Irish agricultural output to meet emissions targets will likely result in higher levels of production in areas where livestock farming is associated with significantly higher carbon emissions.
“People still need to be fed. Production needs to be maintained,” he said, outlining the latest UN Food and Agriculture Organisation figures, which estimate that beef produced in high-income countries - including Ireland - was estimated to have a carbon footprint of just under 20kg CO2 equivalent per kilo of beef.
The figure was significantly higher in upper-middle income countries - like Argentina, Brazil, and China – which, on average, produced beef with a carbon intensity of around 30kg CO2e per kilo of beef.
And almost double again for a kilo of beef produced in lower-middle income countries – such as Egypt, India and Haiti - where just under 60kg CO2e were required per kilo of beef.
In the very poorest countries, the carbon intensity of beef production was estimated to be anywhere between 90kg and 100kg CO2e.
“We need to be really careful about displacement,” Mr Crosson said. “For every animal we displace from the Irish beef herd, you will add about 7-8 tonnes of carbon globally.
“That’s important in the context of [climate action],” he said. “We also need to look at the concurrent increase in global demand… We need to meet that as sustainably as possible.”
"...We can very easily reduce emissions by feeding very high levels of concentrate feeds, but then we get into a 'food/feed' debate, and we get into a debate around our grass-based systems. It's clearly not a solution, and also very questionable from a farm economics point of view. And from a sustainability point of view, that's not the direction we want to go either, but it would reduce our emissions overall."
Deirdre Ryan, Bord Bia's Director of Sustainability and Quality Assurance, told delegates that the new Sustainability Digital Platform, established in cooperation with Teagasc and the Department of Agriculture, will allow Irish agricultural produce to be marketed using verified data subject to peer review, which is truly representative of Irish systems.
