Here’s How Cowboys Are Saving The Environment

The website The View From Under The Cowboy Hat posted an article pointing out all of the good cowboys do for the environment. Their post is a side of the story that is not told by news media and those who wrongly consider themselves environmentalist.

Science shows us that CO2 is, in fact, not a pollutant. Without CO2 Earth would be a dead planet. Nature uses it, recycles it, and uses it again. This is shown in a series of studies done by the following universities, listed below.

Environmental Footprint of Beef Production – Beef Cattle Research Council (beefresearch.ca), Methane and grazing: A broader view | Successful Farming (agriculture.com), Beef Production and Carbon Sequestration | Oklahoma State University

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The above studies show that there is a symbiotic relationship between plants and other life forms, as shown in this article form Scientific America. For example, you breath in O2, and exhale CO2. Plants, on the other hand, inhale CO2 and exhale O2. More CO2 in the air promotes plant growth, which gives us more O2 to breath. It is the cycle of life on this planet.

But much more is needed than CO2 to promote plant growth, and those cows out on the range provide it. “Nitrogen is often in short enough supply that it’s the primary controller of how much biomass is produced” in an ecosystem, he says. “If nitrogen is limited, the benefit of the CO₂ increase is limited…. You can’t just look at CO₂, because the overall context really matters.” (Scientific America).

Cattle ranching produces the safest, most reliable source of protein in the world while also recycling carbon an providing those other nutrients mentioned above, at the same time. Carbon is consumed, used, expelled, and consumed and used again in a never ending cycle. Between soil absorption, plant absorption, and proper animal husbandry the ranching industry is nothing but beneficial.

Animal Agriculture encourages the restoration of our grasslands and helps in reducing the amount of native grasslands and important ecosystems from turning into industrial and residential land-grabs. This responsible management will allow them to enjoy and produce more food and fiber for America and the World. (View From Under The Cowboy Hat.)

It has also been shown that allowing cattle to graze actually helps native grasses to flourish both because they are being trimmed- which helps growth and because the cattle drop fertilizer as they go, which is also rich in nutrients and much needed carbon.

As the cattle help native grasses grow the population of many other living things flourish including, bugs, birds, and other life forms.

Putting an end to ranching will not save the planet, but keeping it will.