Beef one of the biggest methane producers

BEEF has one of the biggest carbon footprints of any food and as a result Europe will have to produce less in the future to deal with climate change, a conference was warned.

The methane challenge was spelled out by experts who showed that 32% of global green house gas emissions come from agriculture – and a large proportion of that from cattle.

While Ireland has managed to reduce the amount of methane its huge herd of cattle produces compared to some other countries, cattle are still responsible for a third of emissions.