Nine steps could cut beef farming’s carbon footprint by 40-percent

Advanced herd management techniques can reduce a beef farmer’s carbon footprint by 40 percent according to modelling work done by the Stabiliser Cattle Company and reported in a recent edition of Farmers Weekly magazine. Focusing on the experience of Harri Parri, who farms 293 ha (723 acres) at Crugeran, Pwllheli and manages a herd of 200 performance-recorded Stabiliser cattle, the article cites nine critical factors required to optimise herd efficiency.

Harri says the nine key factors are:

Cow breed
Use of estimated breeding values
Minimising purchased feed costs
Body condition scoring
Reducing nitrogen use
Vaccination
Meeting growth targets
Good fertility
Weaning efficiency.

“It’s 40 percent health, 40 percent nutrition, and 20 percent genetics, so for low-carbon, profitable suckler beef you need health and nutrition as the cornerstone for the genetics to thrive,” says Harri, who farms with his wife, Elin, and parents, Richard and Rhian.