Cattle Rearing: A Sustainable Agro-Business Activity? - Essay Sample

Introduction

Cattle rearing is one of the leading agro-business activities around the globe; it relies on other agricultural activities, including the cultivation of animal feeds and other supplementary firm products that helps to run cattle rearing (Janae L. Heppne, 7). It is the leading income-generating livestock keeping making it more extensive and demanding in terms of land use and other activities to raise cattle. It is, however, unfortunate because cattle raising is an unsustainable agricultural activity that more demanding; it has led to environmental destruction in search of pasture and space for cattle. Over 30% of land globally is under cattle rearing, besides more land use has been put into feed crops, which in some parts of the world require irrigation (Lerner, Amy et al. p178), thus affecting water usage.

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There are many reasons to justify how this activity is unsustainable and are requires more attention to change the approach to attaining a fairly sustainable cattle rearing. Cattle raising have been identified as one of the leading cause of deforestation that is clearing vegetation to create space for cattle rearing and feed crops. Therefore, it is one of the top reasons that make cattle rearing unsustainable and more alarming when it comes to environmental concerns. Every year, over 60 billion cattle are raised for human consumption; the demand for cattle is costly (Garcia, Edenise, et al. p15), raising while the positions and ecological constraints limit the process. The continued rise in demand for cattle products will make it more impossible to provide enough food for human consumption because cattle raising is constantly demanding for more feed crops and especially cereals. This paper, therefore, argues that the activity is unstainable; it also suggests ways of mitigating the issue.

Background

This argument is based on the perspective that cattle raising is unsustainable and requires immediate attention to mitigate the problems surrounding it. Unfortunately, the governments and other concerned organizations support the implementation of extensive cattle farming, making the industry more unstainable. Continued demand for cattle products negatively influences other factors of the economy as well as environmental factors, making it a highly unstainable agricultural activity across the globe (Lerner, Amy et al. p179). Human consumes more of cereals while at the same time most of the feed crops for cattle are cereals, thus requiring more land for animal rearing than for human consummation. Therefore, presenting an unstable ecosystem. According to the United Nations Rapporteur on the Right to food security, most of the small and large-scale farmers are giving way for feed crops. The process makes cattle raising unsustainable since these farmers must stretch their resources that are required to grow feed crops. As a result of these waves, there is a rise in more land leading to more pressure on human communities and forests. It is justifiable to say that cattle raising is unsustainable are requires immediate mitigation to attain a brighter green world, a culture, and an environment that accommodates all human activities effectively.

Cattle rearing is also the leading agricultural activate that has high energy consumption, to have cattle products in place, the cow must use huge majors of energy. Cultivating grain and the use of farm chemicals as well as transporting cattle for long distances requires a lot of energy. Refrigerating and cooking cattle products also requires energy, thus making it unstainable in terms of energy requirements. Cattle raising has encouraged the development of a chain of activities and business operations with the industry; these include increased demand for dairy and beef products. The more these activities, the more the cattle rearing receives high demand since environmental conditions do not favor extensive cattle raising, more pressure is put on human dependent resources and forests. The trend in the industry does not attain global climate objectives unless beef and milk consumption is reduced. Besides, the development of manufacturing industries that use cattle products as their primary raw material must be regulated to minimize harm. There is a rising interest in cattle products, with many people consuming too much of it, thus putting more pressure on an already maxed and polluted ecosystem. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), worldwide cattle rearing in the livestock industry is among the leading cause of water pollution and one of the main causes of deforestation and loss of biodiversity (Lerner, Amy, et al. p180). Cattle rearing is raising the alarm on the ecosystem and destruction of the environment; governments and environmentalists should be more considerate of the impacts and initiate remedies. The main elements to justify why cattle raising is unsustainable includes the following:

Deforestation

Extensive cattle rearing is the leading cause of deforestation across the globe; many scientists have come out to identify this activity as the leading cause of deforestation. Destruction of Amazon rainforests is kind to cattle ranching; amazon has been converted into plantations of feed cross, pastures, and space for rearing cattle (Vale, Petterson, p413). As a result of this move, there is an increase in soil erosion, destruction of aquatic ecosystems, contaminations of water with organic matter as well as river siltation. Trends have indicated that cattle ranching is increasing, expanding with the amazon region. Cattle ranching, therefore, is unstainable because there is evidence that links it with deforestation. Deforestation in all of the amazon states accounts for 80% of the contemporary situation of the Amazon rainforest (Vale, Petterson, p415). Amazon- Brazil provides a home for over 200 million head of cattle; it is known as the largest exporter of cattle products across the globe, supplying over a quarter of the global livestock market (Garcia, Edenise, et al. p12). Cattle ranching has led to a series of environmental problems posed as a result of deforestation. The amount of destruction that cattle ranching has caused to the forest is devastating as deforestation is one of the leading causes of the world's increasing temperatures, species extinction, and poor quality of water.

Cattle require a lot of resources to sustain the rising demand for cattle products; this pressure has forced many ranch owners to destroy vegetation to increase space for cattle rearing and feed crops. In Central America, over 40% of rainforests have been cleared regardless of the emerging global climatic change (Garcia, Edenise, et al., p13). From these perspectives, cattle ranching is enough to be highly considered as unstainable activity in the world, and the governments and well environmental conversation agencies must continue to advocate for change to address the link between cattle ranching and deposition. It is estimated that over 50,000 acres of rainforests are destroyed by cattle farmer's loggers every day across the globe (Garcia, Edenise, et al., p15). The increasing level of deforestation happens within rainforests, a place that provides a home for many plant and animal species on the planet. If this process continues with the interest of expanding cattle production, thousands of plants and animal species will die and driven into extinction. It is crucial to consider cattle ranching as an environmental issue and address with immediate effect to reduce deforestation and protect the remaining plants and animal species from extinction.

Water Pollution

Cattle rearing and grazing has been identified with positive impacts on increased water infiltration and reduce soil erosion by enhancing soil capacity to hold water. It, however, unfortunate and profoundly worrying because this activity had affected the quality of water, making it more unsustainable. Cattle production has much been linked to water pollution from various perspectives across the globe. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the year 2017 carried out a study on the impacts of cattle rearing, and the results showed that 22% of the impaired rivers and streams, and 8% of the impaired lakes and ponds are a result of cattle rearing (Slusser, p5). Besides, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) has identified that 37% of the phosphorus found within the Gulf of Mexico oils a result of rancher lands and pasture (Slusser, p6). Cattle raising, therefore, can have a devastating effect on water bodies as a result of pathogens for cattle wastes, nutrient runoff, and all other primary concerns of the link between water pollution and cattle rearing.

The primary cause of water pollution associated with cattle rearing is the intensity of the activity, location, and duration. The concentration and proximity of cattle near water bodies, which in many cases occur, influences water pollution contributed from cattle wastes and pasture. Today, there is a rise in demand for cattle products as a result of increased need for meat, milk, and hides from direct human consumption and manufacturing industries. These involve various activists; for instance, cattle produce astronomical wastes, and also the industries that deal on the line of cattle products include enormous waste amounts of waste disposal. It is estimated that large-scale Cattel farmers contribute to over 130 times more wastes than humans dispose of the environment (Slusser, p4). This has led to contamination of water bodies killing aquatic lives and contributing to the rising dead zones.

Most of the cattle ranches are situated near water bodies to provide a source of water for livestock and riparian areas; this poses a high risk of water pollution. Besides, nutrient and microbial pollution by cattle on land destroy water quality, thus threatening ecological and human health. United States Forest Service (USFS) determines that microbial and nutrient pollution associated with cattle ranching is the leading cause of water pollution (Broom, p12). Water is the primary resource used by cattle ranchers to facilities cattle rearing practices; this poses a high risk of water pollution. Water is an essential element in the rearing of cattle for drinking, irrigating feed crops, washing, and processing. As a result, there is a high demand for water leading to its scarcity and overexploitation of water bodies. The situation makes cattle raising unsustainable because these sources also provide water for other human activities and the environment (Janae Heppne, p5). It is, therefore, important for environmentalists and the government to address these issues to reduce water pollution and, at the same time, ensure sustainable cattle rearing because it provides essential raw materials for some of the industries and products such as milk and beef for human consumption.

Suggestions to Make Cattle Rearing Sustainable

1. Removing Perverse Fiscal and Legal Support

The government and environmental concertation agencies have a crucial role to play in ensuring that cattle raising is made sustainable and environmentally friendly. They are a need to address these issues as a top priority in the livestock industry to influence cattle production and eliminate environmental issues associated with it (Broom, p15). The first step that should be considered to make it sustainable is by removing perverse fiscal, legal, and other incentives that support unsustainable beef production and consumption as well as feed crops that are linked to deforestation. The governments should consider encouraging sustainable methods of cattle production and cultivation of feed crops to reduce land overuses and deforestation.

2. Redirect Subsidies

It would be necessary for the government to redirect subsidies, including other forms of economic...