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Hannah Savard

Caroline Reynolds

English 1201

6 Dec. 2020

Agriculture and Livestock Production

Over the recent decade, scientists and conservationists around the world have noticed an

increase of the Earth’s temperatures warming. As a result of the rise of greenhouse gases in our

atmosphere. Most of the causes of global warming include, burning of fossil fuels and pollution.

Emissions from livestock and agriculture are also a large cause of global warming. So how does

agricultural and livestock production factor in when it comes to climate change? There are some

people who believe that the meat and agricultural industries are the leading factors in climate

change. Livestock and agricultural production has evolved to be more environmentally friendly,

but still plays a major role in greenhouse gas emissions.

The livestock industry has provided food for the world for generations. The United States

is one of the leading countries in the world with high quality beef and meat production.

Production of these animals helps provide food and jobs to many people in the United States.

The main livestock animals include beef cattle, dairy cattle, hogs and pigs, chicken, sheep and

lamb. Some of the meats created from these livestock animals are chicken, pork, hot dogs, steak,

eggs, milk, cheese, yogurt, and much more. The number of dairy operations in the United States

is declining, but the number of cattle in the remaining dairy operations is rising. But this is not

the only production the agricultural industry is providing.

The agricultural industry also plays an important role in crop production. The agriculture

industry includes livestock and crop production. Commonly produced crops in the United States
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are corn and feed grains, cotton and wool, fruit and tree nuts, rice, wheat, soybeans and oil crops,

sugar and sweeteners, and vegetables. Most of the corn grown in Ohio is not for straight

consumption. Corn is generally used for grinding into feed for cattle and livestock animals. It can

also be used in cooking to create different types of foods.

F.1 Irrigation systems for large scale crop operations

Emissions from factory farms is a large contributor to greenhouse gases. To build a

factory farm vast amounts of natural space is destroyed to grow crops and raise livestock. Gases

originally stored in the soil are now released into the atmosphere. Once the crops are planted

they are sprayed with pesticides and fertilizers furthering the emissions problem through gases

such as methane and nitrous oxide that are let go during that process. A key role that is played in

the factory farming industry is CAFO’s, or Confined Animal Feeding Operations. Livestock

raised on factory farms are typically crammed into spaces to allow for more animal production.

This leads to dense amounts of waste accumulating in smaller spaces instead of being spread out
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in a more traditional style farming. This waste creates high amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus

which can be deadly to natural plants and wildlife.

According to the article, “Your Questions About Food and Climate Change, Answered,”

by Julia Moskin, “[t]he world's food system is responsible for about one-quarter of the plant-

warming greenhouse gases that humans generate each year.” One-quarter is quite a large amount

of pollution contributing to climate change. Also, this article states that beef and dairy cattle are

the main foods that emit greenhouse gases. Moskin’s also shows a chart of the average

greenhouse gas impact of 50 grams of each each food type. According to the chart, beef is the

highest with an average of 17.7 kilograms of CO2 released per 50 grams. Next is lamb with 9.9

kilograms, and shortly after is farmed crustaceans producing 9.1 kilograms. The numbers start to

slowly decline as the other animals are revealed. Cheese produces 5.4 kilograms, pork produces

3.8 kilograms, farmed fish produce 3 kilograms, poultry produces 2.9 and eggs produce 2.1.

Finally, the lowest and least effective on greenhouse gases is tofu, beans, and nuts, with 1, 0.4,

and 0.1 kilograms of CO2 emissions.

Based on these numbers, it seems that the least climate affecting animals to farm are

chickens, or producing poultry products. It also seems that producing agricultural products such

as beans and nuts are the least out of all agricultural methods that produce CO2. Also, animals

that have consumed GMO crops produce emissions through the use of chemicals which change

the way they grow, and are bad for the environment. Animals crammed into smaller spaces

reduces the amount of healthy animals. These also increase emissions because of the excessive

amount of waste produced by overcrowded conditions.

Another factor in agricultural and livestock production leading to climate change is gas

emitted by cattle. As cattle, sheep, and other livestock animals like goats eat, they produce
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methane as they pass gas through their digestive system. The methane gas is also transmitted

through the cows eructation, or burps, and cow patties. Livestock is attributing to 40 percent of

agriculture products worldwide, therefore allowing copious amounts of methane to be freed

within the ozone.

Sarah Place is a senior director for research for the National Cattlemen's Beef

Association, or NCBA, a contractor for the Beef Checkoff, and has an extensive background in

the beef and cattle industries. Place wrote an article for Beef Magazine about the misconception

of whether it is cattle eructation or flatulence. In the article titled, “Separating fact from fiction

on farting cows,” she states that, “[i]t is true that cattle produce methane, a greenhouse gas 28

times more potent at trapping heat than carbon dioxide, but it’s unlikely methane from U.S. cattle

has been a factor in increased global average temperatures in the past few decades.” In this

statement, Place is accounting that cattle are one of the producers of methane gas.

Also, in the same article, Place references a fact sheet from Beef Checkoff’s

sustainability research program. In this fact sheet, it is explained that the methane released from

animals that are ruminants, like cattle and goats, is part of a natural carbon cycle, which is a

different kind of methane than fossil fuels that are burned by natural gas. Another fact Place

mentions while writing this article is that the methane gets trapped in the atmosphere, trapping

the heat. The methane usually breaks down to carbon dioxide that is used by plants, and then the

cycle repeats itself. Although properly managed populations of livestock do not seemingly create

a methane issue, dense livestock gatherings such as CAFO’s can lead to problems with methane

in the atmosphere. A solution could be regulating what the livestock eats to reduce the erustation

effect.
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The final factor relating agricultural and livestock production to climate change is the

runoff from cattle and crops. Farmers use fertilizers and pesticides in their fields to keep their

crops and soil healthy. Livestock owners use manure piles to store their manure from animals to

later fertilize their field, a neighbors field, or sell and ship it to another farm for fertilizer. Runoff

is created when there has been a recent rain, and the water soaks into the soil. That water can

become contaminated with fertilizer or manure and causes the water source to become polluted.

As the soil drains, the water from the soil travels to a drainage ditch, or sometimes farmers will

use a creek. When this water has drained, it carries those chemicals or manure with it and

contaminates nearby streams. People in rural areas get their water from these same creeks, or

from a well in the ground that is contaminated with the chemicals and manure. Also, cattle

farmers that do not spread manure leave their manure pile sitting in a certain area. Depending on

where that area is, the manure could harm the structures of nearby buildings, or contaminate

certain water supplies for cattle and wildlife alike.

F.2 Diagram of runoff

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According to the Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, if the nitrogen and

phosphorus is not fully used by the plants the fertilizers can be lost to farm fields, and create air

and stream pollution. After a while, these chemicals could also contaminate groundwater and

underground water tables. This can lead to eutrophication in the water, which is an excess

amount of nutrients that causes an extensive amount of over growth. Once these plants grow and

use up all the nutrients, they can cause a lack of dissolved oxygen in the water that depends on

nutrients and oxygen to survive within the environment. This then causes a mass extinction of

aquatic plants and wildlife in that certain area. The EPA also states that eutrophication, “can lead

to hypoxia (‘dead zones’), causing fish kills and a decrease in aquatic life. Excess nutrients can

cause harmful algae blooms (HABs) in freshwater systems, which not only disrupt wildlife but

can also produce toxins harmful to humans.” The EPA has protocols and suggestions for farmers

to help them reduce this amount of runoff as well. One of the suggestions is to fertilize at a

certain time of year and particular point during harvest. This will help the manure soak into the

soil when the soil is dry, which helps it to decompose before it can be washed away to nearby

water supplies.

Also, pollutants can be released into the atmosphere from farm machinery. Most farming

equipment runs on diesel fuel, which leaves a different carbon footprint than regular gasoline.

Burning fuel to operate farm machinery releases pollutants into the air. Plowing and tilling also

releases carbon dioxide. The machines that farmers use are very large and burn more fuel. They

also run for long periods of time and are usually left sitting in yards or fields through the winter,

and could leak into the ground. The more vast a farm is, like farm factories, the more energy that

is required to efficiently maintain crops, livestock, and buildings and machines.

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The livestock and agricultural industries have changed drastically throughout the years.

The meat production industry has come up with more efficient ways to process and sell meat.

New machines for harvesting and planting crops have been designed to make harvesting less of a

burden for farmers and large crop industries. Even though new designs make farming easier

there is still a great concern for how they affect the environment. Prior to climate change

becoming a continual issue, the release of methane from cattle was not frowned upon, since it

was part of the natural cycle and exchange of gases. However, as time has passed, people are

starting to believe that the methane released by cattle is one of the main producers of pollution,

not cars or factories run on natural gases.

There are many different facts and opinions that can be found on the internet related to

this topic. Julia Moskin stated in her article titled, “Your Questions About Food and Climate

Change, Answered,” that contributing to climate change “includes raising and harvesting all the

plants, animals and animal products we eat - beef, chicken, fish, milk, lintels, kale, corn and

more - as well as processing, packaging, and shipping foods to markets all over the world.” This

article pinpoints the agricultural industry as an important part of climate change, and appeals to

an audience of climate change activists. Afshin Ghahramani’s paper, “assesses of projected

climate change by 2030 on Australian mixed crop-livestock systems and examine the

consequences of shifts in land allocations to cropping and grazing,” which makes the reader

assume that Ghahramani is writing about the negative effects of farming, and is also targeting

climate change activists.

Currently, there is a decrease in agricultural and livestock facilities, specifically dairy

farms. Every year, the average number of dairy cattle in the United States has declined since

2017. In 2019, the U.S. average of milk produced per cow was 23,391 pounds. In 2018, the
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average was 23, 150. Even though there is a decrease in the number of cows, the production of

milk has stayed continually increasing 10.6% since 2010. California is one of the leading states

in dairy production, with Wisconsin, New York, Texas, and Idaho close behind. There has also

been a very large decline in the number of licensed dairy herds in the U.S. There was a little over

a 3,000 difference in licensed herds from 2018 to 2019. In 2003, there were approximately

70,375 licensed herds in the U.S. In 2019, that number was reduced to 34,187. Dairy has not

been a high demand product in recent years, hence the decline in the number of farms.

According to the USDA, corn is one of the most widely grown crops in the U.S. The

three other major feed grains are, sorghum, barley, and oats. Corn is considered 95% of total

production and use in crop production. Most corn grown in the U.S. is grown to be grinded into

feed for livestock animals. It can also be used for cereal, alcohol, sweeteners, and byproduct

feeds. Cotton is also another important crop. It is one of the major textile fabrics used in our

clothing today, and is about 25% of total fabric material used in the world. The U.S. is one of the

leaders in cotton production, and produces more than 21 million dollars of product yearly. Which

in turn, generates lots of jobs for people to work in either the mills or on cotton farms.

Soybeans is another common crop compared to cotton and corn. Beans are the largest

producer of feed for animals and one of the largest sources for vegetable oil. Once again, the

United States is one of the main producers of the product and second-leading exporter of

soybeans. Soybeans are 90% of the U.S crop production, and is the largest source of animal

protein. Wheat ranks third when it comes to U.S. crop consumption, acreage, cand gross farm

receipts. In the years of 2016 and 2017, the U.S. produced .820 billion bushels of wheat on 50.2

million acres of land. In 2017 and 2018, the wheat planted area was 46 million acres, which is a
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record low for wheat harvest. Wheat plantings are starting to decline due to lower returns,

changes in government programs, and increased competition in the global wheat production.

However, there is the viewpoint that farming is not a main cause of pollution. In Betsy

Freese’s article, she wrote that, “[m]any areas of the country where livestock numbers are

booming are seeing stable land values and a boost to rural economies and fair income,” meaning

that the industry is better than ever. This article is geared toward people who are wanting to learn

more about farming. There are many farmers that have been carrying on old farming traditions

and tactics, and teaching the younger generations how to farm efficiently and be cost effective.

This side of the argument would be that farming has been going on long enough that there is no

way it could just now be a larger factor in climate change.

F.3 The natural occurring Carbon Cycle

Also, other people believe that there is a common misconception about the amount of

methane released from cattle. The carbon cycle is using the methane created from cattle and has

already been occurring naturally in the atmosphere. In Sarah Place’s article, she goes into detail
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about the science behind the carbon cycle and why it is not a lead factor in climate change. She

also describes how fossil fuel is a different type of carbon, photosynthetic carbon. This type of

carbon is different from the natural carbon because it is mainly from plants and algae that existed

millions of years ago. When that carbon is burned, it represents a different kind of carbon

entering the atmosphere to complete the carbon cycle. The ocean and plants take up some of this

carbon, but the rest of it gets caught in the atmosphere, hence the increase in temperature.

Some ways that we could solve this issue would be to use some of the new technology

that is being developed. Scientists are starting to make electric vehicles, so that ingenuity could

be passed on to combines, grain haulers, and tractors. It may be a very costly option, because

scientists and engineers have not come up with an electric concept vehicle that runs on diesel

fuel, such as any type of farm equipment or large truck. A few other options include no till

farming, annual to perennial crops, and different livestock feeds. To find out more information

on how to make the agricultural industry more efficient is to use the United States Department of

Agriculture Environmental Research Services and the United States Department of Labor

Occupational Safety and Health Administration websites to understand the numbers and values

that go into farming. There are instructions on how to handle animals and crops properly, and

data on the latest crop and livestock exchanges. Using these websites and modern science, there

could be a cure for the environmental problem caused by agricultural and livestock production.
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Works Cited

Cummins, Ronnie. “How Factory Farming Contributes to Global Warming.” EcoWatch,

21 Jan. 2013, https://www.ecowatch.com/strongest-cbd-oil-2648563694.html.

Economic Research Service United States Department of Agriculture. United States

Department of Agriculture, October 8, 2020, https://www.ers.usda.gov/.

Freese, Betsy. “8 Reasons why the Livestock Industry is on a Roll.” Successful Farming,

19 April 2020. https://www.agriculture.com/livestock/8-reasons-why-the-livestock-

industry-is-on-a-roll

Ghahramani, Afshin. “Land use change in Australian mixed crop-livestock systems as a

transformative climate change adaptation.” ScienceDirect, April 2020,

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0308521X18311855.

Moskin, Julia. “Your Questions About Food and Climate Change, Answered.” The New

York Times, April 30, 2019.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/04/30/dining/climate-change-food-eating-

habits.html.
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Nepveux, Micheal. “Largest Decline in U.S. Dairy Farms in 15-Plus Years in 2019.”

American Farm Bureau Federation, 28 Feb. 2020, https://www.fb.org/market-

intel/largest-decline-in-u.s.-dairy-farms-in15-plus-years-in-2019.

Occupational Safety and Health Administration. “Major Group 02: Agricultural

production livestock and animal specialities.” Occupational Safety and Health

Administration, United States Department of Labor, Accessed on 18 Oct. 2020,

https://www.osha.gov/pls/imis/sic_manual.display?id=2&tab=group.

Place, Sarah. “Separating fact from fiction on farting cows,” Beef, 6 Mar. 2019.

https://www.beefmagazine.com/sustainability/separating-fact-fiction-farting-cows.

“Protecting the Water on Your Small Farm”. Washington State University, Accessed 15

Nov. 2020, https://extension.wsu.edu/animalag/content/protecting-the-water-on-your-

small-farm/.

“Sustainable Crop Production and Consumption: The Role of Water Use for Irrigation”.

Europe Now, Accessed 15 Nov. 2020,

https://www.europenowjournal.org/2018/12/10/sustainable-crop-production-and-

consumption-the-role-of-water-use-for-irrigation/.

“The Carbon Cycle”. NASA Earth Observatory, Accessed 15 Nov. 2020,

https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/features/CarbonCycle.

United States Environmental Protection Agency. 30 July 2020, https://www.epa.gov/.

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