By Amanda Brodhagen, Farms.com
Environmental stewardship is a buzzword in agriculture and an important concept for farmers to realize. Farmers are known for being natural environmental stewards of the land, but what does that really mean? The 2012 American Society of Animal Science meeting presented new research that revealed the important role that technology plays in enhancing the way beef cattle are raised. The study highlighted how the adoption of technologies helps reduce the environmental impacts of raising beef. For example, if technology was withdrawn from on-farm production it would take an additional 17 million acres and 138 billion more gallons of water in order to raise the same amount of beef. It would also add 18 million more metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Not only does the use of technology mitigate environmental impacts but it also allows beef producers to meet the consumer demand for beef. If beef ranchers didn’t use technology in beef production the overall beef supply would decrease by 17%. The research examined several different factors to quantify the effects of beef producers not using technology. Researchers looked at two different beef production systems that were almost the same but one production system utilized technology and the other system did not. For example, the conventional system maximized steroid implants and melengestrol acetate products while the other production system didn’t use any of these products. The research looked closely at inputs and outputs throughout the beef production system including crop inputs. Beef farmers that are hesitant to the adopting of technology should consider implementing some technological inputs on their farm. It will help them become more effective farm managers and will be good for the overall environment and meet the needs of consumers who are becoming more environmentally conscious.