Posts

Showing posts with the label Livestock

British chicken driving deforestation in Brazil’s “second Amazon”

Image
THE BUREAU OF INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM This satellite shot shows soybean production in Cerrato, Brazil. Green represents areas cleared before 2001 and purple - between 2007-2013. NASA. Soya used to feed UK livestock linked to industrial-scale destruction of vital tropical woodland. Story here.

Brazilian meat giant trucked cattle from deforested Amazon ranch

Image
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism An Adobe photo. This article exposes the brazen culpability of the global beef industry for the fires ravaging the Amazon each year. Please open this "must-read' story here!

Livestock expansion is a factor in global pandemics

Image
Science Daily A new study looks at the growth of global livestock farming and the threat to biodiversity, and the health risks to both humans and domesticated animals. The growth of global livestock farming is a threat to our biodiversity and also increases the health risks to both humans and domesticated animals. The patterns that link them are at the heart of a study published in Biological Conservation by a scientist from the Institute of Evolution Sciences of Montpellier (ISEM -- CNRS/Université de Montpellier/IRD/EPHE) and the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development's (CIRAD) ASTRE laboratory.

Beyond Covid 19. Are we risking yet another pandemic if we continue to embrace "assembly-line" livestock production into the future?

Image
by Larry Powell No one would argue that Covid 19 demands our undivided attention. Surely,  defeating this "beast" has to be "Priority One." But, once it ends, and it will, here’s another key question that needs answering. Are we flirting with more such tragedies down the road if we do not soon end our love affair with an industrial, factory-style model of meat production?  Six years ago,  Dr. Margaret Chan (above), then the Director-General of the World Health Organization, delivered this positively prophetic message to an Asian investment conference.  “The industrialization of food production is an especially worrisome trend.  Confined animal feeding operations are not farms any more. They are protein factories with multiple hazards for health and the environment."                                         Photo credit -  Mercy for Animals, Manitob a "These hazards come from the crowding of large numbers of animals in very smal

Letter to the Editor RE: Meat-packing sector needs oversight

Published recently in the Winnipeg Free Press. The recent closures of meat packing plants in Alberta, Quebec and several American states due to the Covid-19 pandemic are shedding light on the tremendous expense of this style of massive meat processing operation. The expense borne by the workers at the plants is the greatest of all, their health threatened so severely, even causing death to one Cargill worker in Alberta. However the expense doesn’t stop there as consumers are expected to see meat prices jump , farmers have seen the prices paid for their animals drop by more than 30% and tax payers will ultimately pay the price to help bail out this sector. Several decades ago when the move to close smaller slaughterhouses in favour of building huge single entity plants was happening, the rationale was that there were going to be tremendous efficiencies in doing this. National Farmers Union studies showed that the promised efficiencies of consumers seeing cheaper meat and farmers m

Record number of fires rage around Amazon farms that supply the world's biggest butchers

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism The summer’s Amazon fires were three times more common in the areas supplying cattle to abattoirs than elsewhere in the rainforest. Details here.

'Live animals are the largest source of infection': dangers of the export trade

Image
The Guardian Transporting more livestock will increase transmission of diseases, including some that could also threaten humans.   Story here. Pigs being trucked. Photo by Cayce from Malaysia.

Deadly gas: Cutting farm emissions in half could save 3,000 lives a year

Image
Bureau of Investigative Journalism Spreading manure on a harvested corn field. Photo by Chesapeake Bay Program. Thousands of deaths could be avoided each year if air pollution from UK farms were halved, new analysis has revealed. But the government's failure to act means the most damaging sectors are under no obligation to cut their emissions.  Story here.

A smallholder farmer describes her thriving pig+crop farm in Africa

Image
ILRI - The International Livestock Research Institute Photo by ILRI Emma Naluyima  is a smallholder farmer and private veterinarian in Uganda who has integrated crop growing and livestock raising to build a thriving, profitable and environmentally friendly farm enterprise for her and her family. More here.

Animal health and welfare, two cornerstones of sustainable, responsible and effective food production

Image
ILRI news Improved animal health and welfare standards can also increase food production in ways that protect the environment and enhance the resilience of livestock producers and systems. More here. Hogs see the sun and get fresh air on an "outdoor"  farm in the UK.  Photo credit - Andy & Hilary.

Methane emissions from cattle are 11% higher than estimated

the guardian Bigger livestock in larger numbers in more regions has led to methane in the air climbing faster than predicted due to ‘out-of-date data.’ Details here.

‘Software disease’ — The hazards of plastic, net wrap and twines

    Canadian  Cattlemen Animal Health: Ingestion of plastics has become a common killer. Story here.

Scientists are trying to save the climate from toxic cow burps

Image
The Washington Post Earth has a cow problem. Story here. USDA photo

Hutterite Colony in Alberta, Canada Blazes Antibiotic-Free Trail

Image
AlbertaFarmer A hog barn in Israel.  Shpernik088 You don’t have to sacrifice productivity or compromise health standards by going antibiotic free, say swine managers at Spring Creek Hutterite Colony. Story here.

Stock Answer

Image
by George Monbiot     PinP photo                                            Why I took the plunge at last and converted (almost) to veganism.  Story here.

Large Herds in Remote Areas Raise Predation Risk

THE WESTERN PRODUCER Cattle sector looks at strategies to reduce animal losses, including guardian animals. Story here.

#WorldMeatFreeDay: A Great Day to Consider How Daily Food Choices Impact People and Planet

EcoWatch It’s back! Today was  #WorldMeatFreeDay , a great time to think about how the everyday choices we make about the food we eat can impact our health and the health of the planet.  Story here.

Researchers Say Only Way to Guarantee Enough Food in 2050 Is if the World Turns Vegan

Eco Watch It is possible to produce enough food to feed a growing population without another tree being felled, according to new research. But there’s a catch. More here.

Methane Emissions Are Spiking, But It Might Be More Cow Than Car

climate progress Since 2006, atmospheric levels of methane — a greenhouse gas 86 times more potent than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period — have steadily been on the rise . For years, scientists weren’t sure what was behind the rising levels of methane, but they had a few ideas: namely an increase in fossil fuel-related emissions. More here.

The Hidden Driver of Climate Change That We Too Often Ignore

Image
The Washington Post. PinP photo. Humans are making global warming worse, all right — but in more ways than you think. More here.