Would Cattle Culling be the Best Solution for Ireland to Reach Their Climate Targets?

Climate change is a significant threat nowadays the world is facing. There are many reasons to stimulate climate change. Countries try to influence climate change by making different solutions and controlling additional factors.

Recently, Ireland has taken such a solution to reach their climate targets. But that solution caused a kind of outburst among people. Here is the news article.

This latest climate solution in Ireland is to cull up cattle farming in the country. Ireland has decided to cull up around 200,000 cattle to reach their climate targets within three years. 

There is a significant discussion on the topic worldwide; even Elon Musk tweeted his idea on this.

Even in the Irish government, this topic is still being discussed and needs solving. More details can be read here. Irish farmers also are revolting against this decision. More information can be read here. 

Greenhouse Gas Emission from cattle

Though agriculture is essential to humans in the world, agricultural emission is one primary method of greenhouse gas emission. Around 10% to 20% of GHG emissions worldwide are happening due to agriculture. Livestock manure individually contributes 5.8% of annual GHG emissions. Here for the annual GHG emission percentage chart.

There are many farm animals in the world. Cattle are one major farm animal. Cattle are farmed for many beneficial purposes that cattle provide to humans. The two primary goals of farming cattle are getting meat (beef) and having milk for dairy products like cheese, butter, curd, and many more. Both core and cow milk are very nutritious. Cattle dung is used as an organic fertiliser in organic agriculture. Sometimes, especially in ancient Asia, cattle were used for labouring purposes such as transportation and agricultural labour.

But cattle farming is the leading animal farming type which releases the most GHG compared to other animals and farm animal-related productions.

Cattle is a ruminant animal. Ruminant animals have a different, specific, characteristic digestive system than other animal types. Ruminants can break down and digest foods with more complex structures than other animals.

Cattle have a particular part in their digestive system called the rumen. When cattle eat grass and other vegetation, those components partially digest food and ferment them in the rumen. While in this process, methane gas and other gasses are produced as byproducts. This methane releases into the atmosphere mainly by belching cows. And some amount releases with flatus.

 Methane is one primary GHG in the world. It is the second leading contributor to the greenhouse effect. Methane has a less lifespan in the atmosphere. But it is about 23 times more potent than carbon dioxide. So, the damage which is done by methane gas is enormous.

Single cattle annually emit around 154 to 264 pounds of methane gas. Usually, heat-trapping from the average methane produced by two cattle per year is equal to the heat-trapping of average carbon dioxide produced by a car per year.

With ruminant digestion, cattle release some other GHG on small scales as fermentation byproducts.

Methane and more GHG emitted by cattle—the subsequent primary emission in nitrous oxide gas. Nitrous oxide, or the laughing gas, is the world’s forgotten greenhouse gas. Urine and dung of cattle are the primary sources of nitrous oxide. This gas releases through the volatilisation of urea in cattle urine and dung.

Not only the above-mentioned direct emission, but cattle farming also contributes to indirect emissions. Cattle farming needs a vast land area, and clearing such sites causes deforestation and harm to the land and soil. They contribute GHG emissions indirectly to the atmosphere.

Culling Cattle to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emission

Ireland has decided that the best method for eliminating

 these emissions are culling cattle in the country. It was decided to cull around 200,000 cattle to reach their annual climate target. They plan to cull these cattle within three years and cut down the cattle herd in the country by 10%. Their future goal with this step is to cut emissions by 25% before the end of the decade.

The total cattle population in Ireland is around 7.4 million. It was recorded that the number of cattle in Ireland is more significant than that of humans in Ireland. Ireland has the best climatic situation to grow grass well and the best situation to produce cow milk. Here to learn more about Ireland’s milk production. Milk production volume in Ireland is increasing continuously, and the export market for Irish dairy production is higher. Also, Ireland is one of the top 10 beef exporters in the world. According to data, they produced 524,543 tons of beef in 2020, and 90% of produced beef was exported. However, dairy and beef production is central to Ireland’s economy.

So, though culling cattle seems to be an excellent solution to decrease GHG emissions, there will be many problems. Irish farmers already revolt over this plan.  Their idea is that this is a wrong choice which may repulse Ireland’s animal farming and block an excellent income source for the country. Also, there is a threat that Irish farmers will be forced into bankruptcy with this solution.

Is Culling Cattle the Only Solution?

Climate change mitigation is a critical topic in the world. Fortunately, at least there is much more attention on that now in the world. And some countries are taking action against climate change.

Reducing the number of cattle can reduce massive damage to the climate. Agricultural emission is the method which adds more GHG to the atmosphere in Ireland. Even the emission in the energy industry is less than that.

But there are other ways to fulfil Ireland’s climate targets more sustainably. Fossil fuels provide 90% of the energy in Ireland. This is not a sustainable situation at all. These emissions from fossil fuels harm the climate, our environment, and our health. And using too much fossil fuel without limitation is not sustainable for the future.

So, the first step that Ireland should take is to pay attention to more sustainable and renewable energy sources. After minimising the emissions through fossil fuel, they can pay attention to the farming industry, as cattle farming plays a massive role in Ireland’s economy.

Though culling cattle won’t cost money, its result and damage to the country’s economy and farmers will remain for years. If it costs some money for an alternative energy source, that will be more effective for the environment, climate, and humans and the country’s economic stability.

Conclusion

Culling cattle is not the most suitable answer for the problems with GHG emissions due to economic, social and animal rights concerns. But when considering the economy in Ireland, cattle farming is an important part. So, the attention to minimising emissions is better spent on energy sources, and then, the remaining targets can be completed with other methods which are most suitable and less harmful.

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-With inputs from Mihiri Saparamadhu–