Latest Livestock's Long Shadow Stories

Climate change may be combated by changing the diet of livestock, whose farting and manure, along with the feed crops produced, contribute to 18 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new study.The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), which conducted the study, said as the growing global demand for meat and milk surges it recommends simple steps to curb livestock-related greenhouse gas emissions. ILRI recommended using more nutritious grasses,...

Study examines grasslands and grazing management impacts on global warmingGrazinglands represent one of the largest land resources in the world, yet their role as net sinks or sources of greenhouse gases is essentially unknown. Previous research has emphasized the role of grazing management on the sequestration of atmospheric carbon dioxide as soil organic carbon. However, there is a lack of information regarding how grazing management impacts the flux of two potent GHGs, nitrous oxide and...

LONDON, June 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Sir Paul McCartney, with his daughters Mary and Stella, is launching a new food campaign - MEAT FREE MONDAY - on Monday 15th June which encourages people to help slow climate change by having one meat free day a week. The campaign has already gathered an impressive list of supporters from the worlds of entertainment, politics and the environmental sciences including Chris Martin, Jeff Koons, Alec Baldwin, Woody Harrelson, Doris Day, Sheryl Crow,...

An Australian scientist said Thursday that farmers of the future will have to use sheep and cattle that produce less methane, and crops that emit less nitrous oxide. They must also become experts in reporting their greenhouse gas emissions to governments, said University of Melbourne scientist Richard John Eckard on Thursday.Agriculture represents a significant source of global greenhouse gas emissions, and is only expected to rise as an increasing human population demands more and more food,...

For the first time, farmers have data that tracks at the county level on-site and off-site energy use and carbon dioxide emissions associated with growing crops in the United States.This information is vital for examining changes in cropland production and management techniques and could play an even bigger role as more land is devoted to bioenergy crops, said Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Tristram West, lead author of a paper published on line in the Journal of Environmental...

Farmers, food suppliers, policy-makers, business leaders and environmentalists are joining forces to confront the threat of the "˜forgotten greenhouse gas' by taking part in an influential new forum at the University of East Anglia (UEA). Launched on February 22, the Nitrous Oxide Focus Group will engage with many influential organisations including the National Farmers Union, Marks & Spencer, British Sugar, Defra, the Country Land and Business Association and Unilever.The group will...