Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Enteric fermentation, however, doesn't have to be that gassy.
Cattle confined in feedlots or on dairy factory farms are fed a very
unnatural diet of grain and soybeans that can cause a range of
illnesses among cattle and may also lead to more methane emis-
sions. Eating a more natural, lower-energy diet composed of
grasses and other forages—what cattle are meant to eat—can,
according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, produce
manure with about half of the potential to generate methane.
Animals raised for meat, eggs, and milk also generate signifi-
cant amounts of nitrous oxide through their manure. A 10 percent
rise in nitrous oxide emissions in the United States between 1990
and 2005 has been traced, at least partly, to changes in the poultry
industry, including an increase in the population of birds raised for
meat and eggs. For example, just on the Delmarva Peninsula—the
area where Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia meet—more than
500 million birds are raised each year, compromising the air quality
of that region and affecting the climate.
Changing consumption patterns are also playing a big role in
emissions as countries like China and India are fast becoming
consumers of not only huge amounts of energy—China in 2008
became the biggest emitter of CO
2
—but also of meat, eggs, and
dairy. According to the International Food Policy Research Insti-
tute, per-capita meat and dairy consumption in China has more
than doubled since 1983, and the nation is the largest producer
and consumer of pork in the world; India, on the other hand, is the
world's leading milk producer and is rapidly expanding its chicken
and egg factory farms. Unfortunately, it appears that China and
India are not looking to Western Europe as an example of how to
build and practice more low-carbon, energy-efficient systems and
lifestyles—they're looking to the United States, undoubtedly the
most notorious polluter on the planet.
Despite continual challenges on the climate front, there is a
