Pulse of the Heartland by Brianna Randall/National Wildlife Magazine, October-November 2021:
“One of the best ways to conserve remaining grasslands is to support responsible livestock grazing, says [Julie Sibbing, the National Wildlife Federation’s associate vice president for land stewardship]. “Cattle can help save the birds and bees, so we need to preserve ranching and the grazing way of life, rather than encouraging people to break grass and plant corn,” she says.
Grasslands evolved with bison, pronghorn and other animals whose hooves and grazing open new areas for plants to grow. The above-ground stems of prairie grasses and flowers rebound quickly after they’ve been eaten, much as pruning backyard trees or shrubs creates healthier plants. When managed carefully, domestic animals such as cattle or sheep can have the same positive impact on grassland ecosystems.”
Sustainable Grazing Lands/The Nature Conservancy:
“Livestock grazing on intact, working grasslands can help secure clean water, enhance habitat, address climate change and sustain rural communities…grazing lands are found throughout the United States. These iconic lands—totaling about 775 million acres nationwide… Grazing lands provide food for people, secure clean water and wildlife habitat, and store carbon in the soil, which helps to mitigate climate change.”
About the Grasslands Act/ActForGrasslands.org:
“A new North American Grasslands Conservation Act would help kickstart the voluntary protection and restoration of grasslands – and the livelihoods and wildlife that depend on them – by creating a landowner-driven, voluntary, incentive-based program to conserve and restore threatened grassland and sagebrush steppe ecosystems. By enacting a North American Grasslands Conservation Act, we will keep working grasslands working. We’ll do so by providing voluntary technical and financial assistance that will increase the protection and restoration of our continent’s most imperiled ecosystem, while contributing to climate resilience, ranching livelihoods, and wildlife abundance.”
The Framework/U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (USRSB):
“The U.S. Beef Industry Sustainability Framework is a resource developed to identify opportunities for continuous improvement in all types of operations and companies throughout the beef industry….[The following high-priority indicators] are the foundation of the Framework, defining the areas most important to beef sustainability for the entire supply chain:
Water Resources: The volume of water consumed and any impacts on water quality.
Land Resources: The stewardship of terrestrial and aquatic habitat in relation to water, soil and biodiversity in an area. Impacts of land use and land use conversion, both caused by and prevented by ranching and farming activities.
Air & Greenhouse Gas Emissions: The cumulative emissions of pollutants, including particulate matter, greenhouse gases and other gaseous emissions from a sector for each process.
Efficiency & Yield: Efficiency is the unit of input required to produce a unit of output and yield is the total product generated per unit of time or space.
Animal Health & Wellbeing: The cumulative effects of cattle health, nutrition, care and comfort.
Employee Safety & Wellbeing: The implementation of safety programs and training to provide a safe workplace and help to prevent workplace accidents and injuries….”
Using Livestock to Manage Wildlife Habitat by Robert K. Lyons and Byron D. Wright/Texas A&M AgriLife Extension:
“Uniform grazing as a result of high stock density can certainly reduce the quality of wildlife habitat by decreasing plant diversity and the escape, resting, screening and thermal cover wildlife need to survive. However, properly managed livestock grazing can improve wildlife habitat by increasing plant diversity.”
Beef cattle grazing more help than harm for endangered plants and animals by Sheila J. Barry/ UC Division of Agriculture & Natural Resources May 19, 2021:
“Well-managed grazing can control non-native plants and maintain habitat and ecosystems to support a variety of species…Housing and urban development, solar and wind farms, cultivated agriculture, and public works projects such as reservoirs, roads and high-speed rail all result in habitat loss for some native species, many of which are threatened or endangered. Alternatively, maintaining ranching, or managed grazing for beef cattle production, can support the conservation of many threatened and endangered species…”
Scientists Work to Cut Greenhouse Gases, One Cow Burp at a Time U.S. Department of Agriculture, October 7, 2020:
“For several decades, researchers have been looking for ways to reduce the methane produced in the rumen [the cow’s first stomach].. Now new research by DiLorenzo and others shows that a small change to cattle’s diets reduced the animals’ methane emissions by 11 percent. These findings are a step toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions from livestock. The study received funding support from USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative program.”