Average weight of a 'global cow' to calculate world CO2 sequestration?

Discussion in 'Breeding, Raising, Feeding and Caring for Animals' started by Eclipse, Apr 29, 2018.

  1. Eclipse

    Eclipse Junior Member

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    So if we rotate cattle in the Adaptive Multi-Paddock (AMP) grazing, aka, Managed Intensive Rotational Grazing (MIRG), a study by Paige says the average CO2 sequestered in pastures of AMP grazed cattle is 6.65 kilo's per kilo of carcass weight.
    https://sciencetrends.com/a-holisti...azing-management-systems-for-beef-production/

    There are 998.3 million head of cattle in the world. (So close to a nice round billion!)
    https://beef2live.com/story-world-cattle-inventory-ranking-countries-0-106905

    So we need to multiply 998.3 by 6.65kg by average cattle weight. Anyone want to tell us what a WORLD average cattle weight would be? Then this figure is what world cattle alone could sequester, let alone all the other animals that AMP can graze to bring pastures back to life? I'm expecting this figure to be well below the total *pasturelands figure*, as there are many other animals we currently graze that can be grazed better via AMP / MIRG, sequestering even more CO2.
     
  2. Bryant RedHawk

    Bryant RedHawk Junior Member

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    Sadly those studies forgot to take into account the amount of methane released by those cattle which is another of the green house effect gasses. The CO2 term of sequestration in those studies also needs to be compared to long term sequestration as is done by trees and oceans.
     
  3. Eclipse

    Eclipse Junior Member

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    Hi Bryant,
    sorry, but I don't see any evidence that they forgot the methane.

    Methane is commonly to blame for cattle’s environmental destruction. Though ruminants have roamed the Earth for thousands of years, emitting methane as a natural byproduct of rumination, it’s high global warming potential (30x that of CO2) make it a hot topic in the current context. Though we modeled methane emissions, there has been some controversy over whether these models are accurate for improved grazing systems. Indeed, when we compared the globally used methane model, it overpredicted emissions by 35% compared to actual, on-farm data (not modeled).
    https://sciencetrends.com/a-holisti...azing-management-systems-for-beef-production/

    Indeed, we could fix that and double the CO2 sequestration rates. Just supplement their diet with the right seaweed.

    Kelp farming could IMPROVE CATTLE GAINS
    Some seaweeds can supplement cow diets to eliminate their methane burps! Cattle methane is not only bad for climate change, but can lose 15% of the cow's potential growth!
    https://theconversation.com/seaweed...utting-methane-emissions-from-cow-burps-66498
     
    Bryant RedHawk likes this.
  4. songbird

    songbird Senior Member

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    or just eat less beef. there's plenty of vegetables and other things to eat.

    i try to limit meats of all kinds to once or twice a week, but that varies
    depending upon what is being cooked here (not just for us, but Mom
    cooks for other people too).

    i do eat cheese and yogurt though, so i'm sure that has some impact.
     

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