NEWS
Livestock ’ s role in a changing climate
The grazing of livestock stores carbon in the soil Raylene Nickel
Current Address : SuccessfulFarming Reprinted From : http :// bit . ly / 3uW7qIi
Edward Bork ’ s research surrounding how livestock grazing affects soil carbon has made him a believer in the beneficial role cattle can potentially play in a changing climate .
“ Because their grazing contributes to the concentration of carbon in the soil – a helpful process – livestock can be a tool to help reduce atmospheric carbon and thus mitigate climate change ,” says Bork , director of the Rangeland Research Institute , University of Alberta . Cattle critics say otherwise , calling for decreases in numbers or even elimination of ruminants as a means of reducing the greenhouse gases contributing to climate change . They point to the methane cattle emit as a key polluter of the atmosphere . Methane is a potent greenhouse gas that ruminants put out
Figure 1 : The grazing of livestock stores carbon in the soil .
Grassroots Vol 21 No 1 March 2021 24