CALF_News_April_May_2020

13 CALF News • April | May 2020 • www.calfnews.net INNOVATION INTERNATIONAL LIVESTOCK CONGRESS Continued from page 7 from beef cattle from direct emission, according to the EPA. For the entire life cycle it is 3.3 percent for beef emissions. Worldwide, GHG is 6 percent for beef. Globally, all livestock have a GHG con- tribution of 14.5 percent. “Of all the countries in the world, we have the lowest carbon footprint for live- stock production,” Mitloehner said.“We produce 18 percent of all of the world’s beef with only 8 percent of the cattle. If there is one place in the world where we should produce beef it is right here. We know how to do it in an efficient way.” He warned that anti-beef activists won’t stop attacking livestock production when the message on methane is spread. “Mark my words, the Achilles heel, which is currently methane, will be replaced with something else in the near future because they will lose this battle- field. If it’s the last thing I do on this Earth, they will lose this battlefield. Reduce waste Alarmingly, close to 40 percent of all food is wasted. The highest amount comes from fruits and vegetables. That’s both in underdeveloped countries and developed countries.“That is not accept- able,” Mitloehner said. To meet what is called the “2050 chal- lenge” [when the population reaches 9 to 10 billion people, efficiency will be criti- cal.] “We’re 7.6 billion now and will see 9.5 to 10 billion in 2050,” Mitloehner said.“We will have more people to feed but no more natural resources to do it. We have to become more efficient in how we produce food.” He added that worldwide land used for agriculture is tiny and most of it is only suitable for grazing by ruminants. It cannot support crops, but can support cattle, which, again, upcycle the forage to produce high volumes of protein needed by consumers. Unfortunately, too many consumers believe crop and livestock production should resemble that of the 1950s, when farms had just a few cows, pigs and chickens. However, larger more efficient production is needed to meet the demands of the growing population, Mitloehner explained. He is fully dedicated in his mission, even though he teaches and conducts research at UCDavis, long considered one of the most left-leaning universities in the nation. Mitloehner laughed when he referred to it as the“People’s Republic of Davis.” Nevertheless, he is persistent in edu- cating others. He has taken steps to even hire journalists as well as researchers to get the facts out. He expects producers and feeders to do the same. “It’s not just good enough to be good farmers, good food researchers,” he said. “If we don’t get the word out, it’s worth nothing. Science communicating is extremely important.” For more on Mitloehner’s research, visit his UC Davis website at Clarity and Leadership for Environmental Aware- ness and Research Center, or CLEAR Center - https://clear.ucdavis.edu.  Of all the countries in the world, we have the lowest carbon footprint for livestock production. – Frank Mitloehner