It’s a fact that industrial cow farming has a huge impact on the environment. But what are the problems?
In 2022, the global production of beef reached a whopping 76 million tons - more than double the amount produced in 1961.
That meat comes from the 1.5 billion cows farmed and slaughtered every year. This massive rise in beef production is a serious problem for the environment, as cows require a lot of resources. Farming them also produces a lot of pollution in the form of greenhouse gases and waste. Read on to learn more.
What are some environmental impacts of beef production?
Deforestation
Beef farming requires an enormous amount of land - 20 times as much land per gram of edible protein compared to common plant-based proteins like beans.
These huge areas of land are cleared to be turned into grazing pasture for cows, and to grow crops like soy and grains to feed them. This puts severe strain on the world's forests, with beef production the leading driver of deforestation, responsible for five times as much deforestation as the next most-destructive sector, and responsible for 41% of global forest loss in total. In South America, the numbers are even worse, with up to 80% of deforestation in the Amazon caused by cattle ranching.
Without a huge demand for beef, much of this pastureland could otherwise be (and often was) lush, carbon-capturing forest. If we stopped raising and slaughtering cows for meat, vast tracts of land could be rewilded, forests could be rejuvenated, biodiversity would be protected, and more carbon could be drawn down from the atmosphere.
Greenhouse gas emissions
Cows are ruminant animals who burp out methane - a very potent greenhouse gas - when they digest plants. Over a 20 year period, methane is up to 86 times more potent than carbon dioxide for trapping heat in the atmosphere. It also accounts for half of the emissions from beef production, which overall creates 10 to 100 times more emissions than most plant-based foods.
In addition to methane, manure spread by cows on pastures is a source of nitrous oxide, another greenhouse gas. Chemical fertilisers sprayed on crops grown to feed animals also have a notable negative impact on the environment.
Water pollution
Another serious environmental hazard caused by beef production is water pollution.
Although some of the worst cases of water pollution are associated with dairy farming, beef farming can also ruin water supplies, particularly those located near intensive feedlots. As manure accumulates, large amounts of nitrates and phosphates pass into the soil, and from there, pass into the groundwater. Or, just as catastrophically, the manure runs into rivers during rainfall, poisoning ecosystems and making water unsafe to drink.
Water use
Raising cows for meat can be really water intensive, though a lot of that depends on what they eat. Cows in the UK for example, typically have a smaller water footprint than those in countries like the US, because they mostly eat grass that is watered by rain. When water is drawn from reservoirs, rivers, and other such sources - known as “blue water” - beef production becomes particularly water-intensive.
According to one estimate, a serving of UK-produced beef uses about 33 litres of blue water. This calculation subtracts the parts of the animal that don’t end up being consumed by humans. The whole animal requires 67 litres per kilo on average. This water is used for the cows to drink, to grow feed, and to wash the abattoir after they’re slaughtered.
In other countries, raising cows uses a lot more blue water, often because the animals are fed extremely thirsty crops like alfalfa. In the US, where more feed is grown using irrigation rather than rainwater, a kilo of beef can require around 2,000 litres. Some farming systems can use as much as 15,000 litres per kilo of beef, while other areas where high volumes of blue water are used for cows, such as California, are also experiencing ongoing droughts.
Biodiversity loss
As meat consumption rises globally, more habitats are destroyed to make way for grazing and growing feed crops. Overall, 30% of all biodiversity loss has been linked to raising animals for meat.
If nothing changes, the habitats of more than 17,000 species will come under threat, according to a study published in Nature. Since raising cows for meat requires more land than producing other kinds of food, beef will continue to be a major contributor to biodiversity loss, particularly in regions like the Amazon. As Brazil is planning to increase its beef production to boost its exports to China, the country’s precious remaining rainforests are at serious risk.
Social impacts
Beef production can have serious negative impacts on local communities. In Brazil, the world’s largest beef producer, illegal deforestation to house grazing cows has led to Indigenous communities being violently driven from their land. Human rights campaigners have condemned beef companies like JBS for failing to protect communities threatened by beef production.
More broadly, as a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and biodiversity loss, beef production at its current scale threatens the future of all humans.
Is beef more resource-intensive than other foods?
Beef production is highly resource-intensive. It has the largest carbon footprint of any food, and when it comes to land use is second only to raising sheep and lambs for meat.
Water use for beef is much higher than for many other foods, particularly most vegetables. In terms of water pollution, beef production creates more compared to most other foods, only coming second to dairy production.
Is beef worse for the environment than chicken?
Beef is worse for the environment than chicken on every metric. But chicken production is still worse for the planet than almost all plant proteins.
Producing chicken also involves a greater amount of animal suffering, since more than 60-times as many chickens are slaughtered globally every year than cows, with the vast majority spending their lives in cruel factory farms.
What is the biggest concern regarding beef production?
Harming the climate, destroying habitats, and taking up land that could otherwise be rewilded are some of the worst environmental issues caused by the beef industry. But, there’s even more harm caused by producing beef.
Globally, beef production is responsible for the deaths of over a billion animals each year. Though cows raised for meat are less likely to be factory farmed than other animals such as chickens and pigs, they are still slaughtered at an unnaturally young age, and will often suffer terribly during the process.
In the UK (and some other countries like the US and Canada), cows must be rendered unconscious prior to being cut open and bled out. This is often done by having a captive bolt fired into their brains. But this isn’t always effective. According to one study, 15% of cows were not stunned properly and were subjected to repeated stunning attempts, or they were slaughtered while still partially conscious.
The bottom line
Beef production cannot continue as it is today, having such a damaging effect on the climate and the environment. Leaving meat off your plate is one of the most effective ways to reduce your own environmental footprint, and spare many lives in the process.