Discussion Paper: Controlling Methane from Beef and Dairy in the Global South
Robert Paarlberg has released a discussion paper titled “Controlling Methane from Beef and Dairy: Facing Realities in the Global South.”
Roughly ¾ of all methane emissions from beef and dairy cattle now come from the Global South, and these emissions will continue to increase in the absence of higher investments in improved animal feed, genetics, and veterinary care. Beef and dairy producers in the Global North have reduced methane emissions dramatically over the past half century, without reducing meat and milk production, thanks to productivity enhancements of this kind. This “productivity path” to successful methane abatement requires time and resources, so it is understandable that climate advocates have been looking for shortcut solutions, such as reducing beef and dairy consumption (perhaps by substituting plant-based or cell-grown products in diets), or using natural feed additives (such as red seaweed), or manufactured additives (such as new product, Bovaer), or even injecting the animals with experimental vaccines. Upon review, all of these approaches encounter serious limitations in the Global South, where production systems are often based on small, highly fragmented herds that self-feed on pasture. Creating incentives at the farm level to adopt these shortcuts is also a far greater challenge in the Global South. The “productivity path” to methane abatement in beef and dairy can criticized by organized environmental and animal welfare groups, but on closer examination it actually provides benefits along both of these dimensions as well.
Robert Paarlberg is an Associate at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University and Professor of Political Science Emeritus at Wellesley College. He is the author of six books and numerous papers and reports on agriculture and food policy.