Turns Out Cows and Sustainable Farming Can Go Hand in Hand

According to a recent report, a sustainable farming system in the United Kingdom could be achieved with the help of beef herds, thus producing healthy and environmentally sustainable food in enough quantity while tackling the climate crisis.

“The case we’re making is that properly managed, pasture-fed beef has a really important role to play in agroecological land management systems,” says Sue Pritchard, an organic farmer and chief executive of the Food, Farming and Countryside Commission charity.

With the implementation of sustainable farming known as agroecology, a type of agriculture that includes organic farming, no pesticides or synthetic fertilizers would be used by 2050 as they would be replaced by cattle manure, thus cutting climate emissions and adding carbon to the soil. Also, close to 10% of today’s farmland would be given back to nature, and net greenhouse gas emissions could fall by around 75%.

Many farmers in the UK have already made the switch to agroecology. “This analysis isn’t just a piece of technical modeling but is built on really grounded experience,” adds Pritchard.