Sustainability in the Australian cattle and sheep industry

WHAT IS TARGET 100?Target 100 is an initiative to deliver more sustainable cattle and sheep farming and connect city consumers with the farmers producing their beef and lamb.

Target 100 showcases 100 research, development and extension projects that provide the cattle and sheep industry with a constant stream of scientific research to adapt its practices in line with the changing environment, enabling the industry to feed a growing population sustainably for generations to come.

Target 100 also highlights what individual cattle and sheep farmers are doing on their properties every day, demonstrating how previous research has led to changes in farming.

WHO IS DRIVING TARGET 100?Cattle and sheep farmers from across Australia are the driving force behind Target 100, through their industry representative bodies - the Cattle Council of Australia, the Sheepmeat Council of Australia, the Australian Lot Feeders’ Association, the Australian Meat Industry Council, the Australian Meat Processing Corporation and service provider Meat & Livestock Australia.

As custodians of almost 50 per cent of Australia’s land mass, cattle and sheep farmers recognise their responsibility to sustainably manage the environment for all Australians, while providing a nutritious, quality food product.

A focus on sustainability is a priority for the Australian livestock industry because improved environmental practices deliver benefits not only for the environment, but also in productivity. At every stage from the paddock to the plate there are opportunities for continuous improvement in environmental management.

The cattle and sheep industry, in collaboration with the Australian Government, invests in research, development and extension programs aimed at further improving the industry’s environmental performance, including reducing emissions, energy and water use, improving biodiversity, minimising waste and improving animal welfare.

Australia’s farming systems

Less than 8 per cent of Australia’s land is arable. Australian cattle and sheep are mainly reared on extensive rangelands and semi-arid areas producing nutrient rich protein where other food production is not possible due to geological, topographic and climatic factors. In areas suited to mixed farming, livestock grazing and grain crop production are complementary, maximising productivity and improving soil health.

These factors make Australia one of the most efficient producers of quality livestock in the world, allowing us to feed our own population and the growing global population. This farming system also means that overseas figures and data on environmental impacts are not applicable to the local industry.

At any one time around 2-3 per cent of Australia’s cattle population is located in feedlots, which are managed facilities where cattle are provided a balanced and nutritious diet for the purpose of producing beef of a consistent quality and quantity.

Australian feedlot cattle spend the majority of their lives in an open range grass-fed environment prior to entering a feedlot for an average 50-120 days or around 10-15 per cent of their lifespan.

Cattle enter feedlots to meet demand for grain-fed beef and because feedlots can consistently deliver market specifications, irrespective of climatic conditions.

AUSTRALIAN CATTLE & SHEEP INDUSTRY AT A GLANCE

• $16 billion industry

• Employs approximately 200,000 people

• Exports beef and lamb to more than 100 countries

• 29.5 million cattle

• 75 million sheep

Figures current as of 2012 and sourced from Meat & Livestock Australia preliminary estimates using Australian Bureau of Statistics and Department of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries data. All figures are subject to revision.

CATTLE & SHEEP FARMING IN THE AUSTRALIAN ENVIRONMENT

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Australia’s grazing land underpins the production of some of the highest quality cattle and sheep in the world.

Farmers recognise that healthy, diverse and productive ecosystems are vital to the viability of their livelihoods and their ability to continue providing high quality, nutritious beef and lamb to Australian and international consumers.

Cattle and sheep farmers, particularly in the extensive northern regions and remote areas of Australia, are important environmental stewards. They manage weeds, pests and feral animals and help to maintain biodiversity and reduce the risk of destructive bushfires.

Farmers recognise natural resource management (NRM) as an important activity and understand that healthy ecosystems are important to the sustainability of their business and our environment. In 2006-07, 94.3% of Australian agricultural businesses reported undertaking NRM activities in relation to preventing or managing weeds, pests, land and soil. In total, undertaking these activities cost almost $3 billion.¹

¹ Australian Bureau of Statistics, Natural Resource Management on Australian Farms, 2006-07.

Biodiversity

Biodiversity refers to the “biological diversity” of habitats, the vegetation that makes up a habitat (woodlands, native scrub, trees, shrubs and native grasses), the soil that supports the vegetation (soil biological diversity) as well as the animals and insects that live in grazing landscapes.

Australian cattle and sheep farmers strive to manage their production systems in the natural environment in a manner that not only co-exists alongside rich biodiversity, but also helps develop, improve and ensure “biological diversity”, as it is key to their productive systems.

All forms of food production contribute to a loss of biodiversity to varying degrees and it is important that any impacts on biodiversity are managed effectively.

Past agricultural practices, where the land was farmed in a European fashion, led to a decline in biodiversity. However, today Australian cattle and sheep farmers are highly conscious that biodiversity is vital to their property’s sustainability and profitability. Farmers today work hard to understand how meat production systems impact on biodiversity and how their management decisions can lead to improvements in productivity and improve biodiversity on their properties.

WASTE NOT WASTED

Feedlots producing grain-fed beef, such as Hopkins River Pastoral in Victoria, are finding innovative ways to recycle waste and minimise their environmental impact. Hopkins River has developed an environmental assurance program called the ‘Carbon Hoofprint’.

The foundations of the program involve re-using cattle manure from the feedlot, recycling it into a nutrient dense humus soil conditioner, which is biologically activated, and then applied to Hopkins River’s grazing land. Visit: www.target100.com.au/Farmer-stories/Hopkins-River-Pastoral

MANAGING THE LAND

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Healthy soils are fundamental to the sustainability of Australian cattle and sheep farming. They can create environmental benefits through better use of water and nutrients, minimise the risk of water run-off and erosion and improve pasture productivity.

Well managed soils can also absorb large volumes of atmospheric carbon dioxide, improving the ability of soil to hold water and retain nutrients.

In the wheat/sheep zone of southern Australia, using livestock to graze crop stubble when the land is being rested helps to maintain soil health and reduces the need for chemical applications. In the north, grazing cattle and sheep contributes to soil health and soil carbon storage.² Cattle grazing in the north also reduces the intensity and frequency of bushfires.

The Australian beef and lamb industry invests in research and development to better understand the sustainable use of grazing land. Visit: www.target100.com.au/Initiatives/Soil-and-groundcover

² Schuman G, Ingram L, Stahl P., Derner J, Vance G and Morgan J. “Influence of management on soil organic carbon dynamics in northern mixed-grass rangeland.” Soil carbon sequestration and the greenhouse effect,Second edition. (2009): 169-180.

GROUNDCOVER MANAGEMENT• 86% of farmers rest areas of their

property from grazing on a regular basis to improve soil health and biodiversity.

• 78% of farmers use soil testing to determine nutrient requirements.

HEALTHY SOILS ARE VITAL

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Case Study BILL & DEB BRAY Over the past 20 years, the Bray family have planted more than 30,000 native trees on their property in Gippsland, Victoria. The Brays have also fenced off 10 per cent of their property to protect remnant vegetation and have fenced off watercourses to establish wetlands with native species.

Bill Bray says increasing the native vegetation on their property has provided environmental benefits and resulted in extra shelter for livestock, helping to make the animals more productive. Yaringa,

Gippsland, Victoria

Australian cattle and sheep farmers, livestock transporters and processors highly value the health and wellbeing of their livestock.

Farmers have an attachment to the animals they have often raised from birth and know that healthy and well cared for animals also produce better quality beef and lamb. It is widely acknowledged that consumers want their food to be produced humanely and ethically.

Good animal welfare is therefore not only vital from a moral and ethical perspective, but also to farmers’ productivity, profitability and sustainability.

To continually improve the wellbeing of Australian cattle and sheep, the industry invests in research and development to provide tools and knowledge to farmers, transporters and processors.

Animal welfare research is undertaken on the farm, at feedlots and the various stages of livestock export and beef and lamb production. The program is in line with the international priorities of the Office International des Epizooties (OIE), the world animal health organisation, and the Australian Government’s national strategic framework - the Australian Animal Welfare Strategy.Visit: www.target100.com.au/Welfare

ANIMAL WELFARE

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Case Study ‘THE SCHOOLEYS’ Sustainability – both in an environmental and animal welfare sense – is very important to us on our 6,000ha south-eastern Queensland property, Rocky Springs.We raise cattle for the European Union market and stock about 1600 cattle on the property. To keep our cattle in top condition we ensure our animals are treated well and constantly improve our infrastructure.We really focus on animal welfare because, apart from being the right thing to do, we believe that in the end it improves your bottom line. Keeping cattle happy in our grazing environment is based on appropriate nutrition, professional handling and precise husbandry practises.

Rocky Springs,Mundubbera, QLD

THE CARBON CYCLE

The Australian cattle and sheep industry’s contribution to greenhouse gas emissions is best understood within the context of the carbon cycle which is not just about emissions, but also about transfers between carbon stores.

The carbon stored in plants is consumed by livestock when they graze. Most of it is then released into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide when the animals breathe it out and as methane when sheep and cattle digest their feed. Methane in the atmosphere is eventually transformed to carbon dioxide and water. Carbon dioxide is then re-absorbed by plants as they grow and the cycle continues.

The process of absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere via photosynthesis and storing carbon in plants and soil is called ‘sequestration’. Some of this carbon is stored in the stems and roots of plants and some is stored in the soil, improving soil health.

SUNLIGHT

ORGANICCARBON

DECAYINGORGANISMS

ROOTRESPIRATION

DEAD ORGANISMS AND FOSSIL FUELS

FOSSILS AND FOSSIL FUELS

PHOTOSYNTHESIS

CO2

CYCLE

ANIMALRESPIRATION

PLANTRESPIRATION

METHANE

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IMPORTANCE OF SEQUESTRATION

The health of the soil, trees, micro-organisms, native animals and vegetation are essential to the livelihoods of cattle and sheep farmers. This is also important for Australia’s overall emissions profile.

Through photosynthesis carbon dioxide is absorbed by plants, which in turn deposit some carbon into the soil, thereby improving soil health. Storing carbon in plants and soils is called ‘sequestration’.

International greenhouse gas accounting rules currently account for carbon released into the atmosphere as methane and as carbon dioxide following land clearing, but they do not fully account for the capacity of trees, grass and soil to store carbon as part of the carbon cycle. Methods for measuring carbon sequestration are being developed.

The nation’s cattle and sheep industry produces approximately 10 per cent of Australia’s total greenhouse gas emissions 3. Most of these emissions come from methane which is produced by the natural digestion process of cattle and sheep.

The Australian cattle and sheep industry is committed to improving farm management practices to help reduce the nation’s gross greenhouse gas emissions. Through grazing and soil management farmers can also capture carbon in the landscape while at the same time helping to meet the significant increase in demand for beef and lamb domestically and globally.

A key to reducing livestock emissions is maximising the growth rate of animals, breeding efficiency and their conversion of energy to meat. This can be achieved through selective breeding, improved feed management and maximising animal health. Improving livestock genetics is essential to the future sustainability and profitability of the livestock industry and the environment.

3 Department of Climate Change (DCC), Canberra, Australia - Australian National Greenhouse Accounts: National Greenhouse Gas Inventory accounting for the Kyoto Target, May 2010.

REDUCING EMISSIONS

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WHAT’S THE CONNECTION BETWEENLIVESTOCK AND GREENHOUSE GASES

Cattle and sheep are among the group of animals known as ‘ruminants’. This means they digest food in two steps: first by eating the raw material and regurgitating a semi-digested form known as cud; then eating (chewing) the cud, a process called ruminating.

Methane is a by-product of digestion in ruminants and effectively removes hydrogen which is produced in the first stomach. The ruminant digestion system enables cattle and sheep to digest grasses indigestible by humans and other livestock.

It is this process of converting grasses to a highly nutritious protein that enables the Australian livestock industry to produce food sustainably for a growing population.

SEEKING CONTINUAL IMPROVEMENT

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Case Study SAM ARCHER

Sam and Sabrina Archer are implementing a raft of management activities on their 1500 hectare farm near Gundagai in NSW to make the land more sustainable and deliver environmental, social and financial benefits. The Archers have mitigated erosion on hilly areas of their property by fencing the areas off to allow native perennial grasses to regenerate, by repeatedly flowering and setting seed.

With their productive land, they rotate livestock from paddock to paddock to allow land to rest, native perennial grasses to regenerate and to maximise the health of livestock.

They have also revegetated gullies and waterways to provide shelter for livestock and encourage biodiversity. It is activities like these that Sam Archer has proposed farmers should receive credit for as part of an ecosystems services scheme.

Wallaby Creek,Gundagai, NSW

The industry and the Australian Government are funding the National Livestock Methane Program to develop practical on-farm options for reducing livestock methane emissions.

This effort builds on earlier research under the Reducing Emissions from Livestock Research Program.

The research is:

• Investigating strategies for reducing methane production from cattle and sheep through altering their diet.

• Studying animal genetics to identify selective breeding opportunities for animals that produce less methane.

Research released in 2012 by the CSIRO found the amount of methane emitted from cattle fed on tropical grasses in northern Australia is up to 30 per cent less than the figures currently used to calculate the northern cattle industry’s contribution to Australia’s greenhouse gas accounts. If this research is endorsed by the National Greenhouse Gas Inventory it will mean a reduction in emissions across the whole industry. The National Greenhouse Gas Inventory does not currently fully account for the capacity of trees, grass and soil to store carbon as part of the carbon cycle. If it did the industry’s overall contribution would be reduced.

FAST FACT

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DIFFERENTTYPES OF WATER?Most water used for raising livestock is from ‘green water’, which is stored in soils and derived from rainfall.

Approximately 5-12% of water used is from ‘blue water’, which is water stored in dams, rivers and underground.

Since livestock are predominantly raised on non-arable land and often in remote locations, the green water used is generally not able to be used for any other purpose.

Water is essential for animal health and supports healthy pastures, therefore maintaining a sustainable food source for Australia’s cattle and sheep.

Australia’s cattle and sheep farmers and the processing industry are highly conscious of the need to conserve water and invest in technology and practices that reduce water use.

Many Australian cattle and sheep farmers are committed to improving their on-farm water efficiency through measures such as creating efficient watering points for livestock and maintaining healthy soils and pastures to minimise run-off during rain.

Water consumed by Australian cattle and sheep primarily comes from dams, shallow bores and creeks rather than town water supplies. Much of this water could not be used for another purpose, such as human consumption, because of where it is located.

The livestock industry invests levies paid by individual cattle and sheep farmers into research to help the industry become more water efficient. Research areas include improving water use within grazing systems, addressing soil erosion, dryland salinity and soil acidification and improving the drought tolerance of plant species through DNA technology.

Water use in the paddock

Cattle and sheep farmers do many things to influence the water balance in their grazing systems. Healthy soils and adequate nutrients are two of the basic elements of any successful grazing system. Healthy soils drive higher pasture productivity as well as benefits for the environment through more efficient use of water and nutrients in the paddock and less risk of run-off, erosion and deep drainage.

A comprehensive survey of the environmental practices of Australian cattle and sheep farmers in 2010 found that farmers are increasingly monitoring and managing their water use:

• 55% of farmers had installed additional watering points to replace water for stock from natural watercourses

• 61% of Queensland producers were installing water points

• 86% of farmers monitored the level of water tables on their properties

MANAGING WATER USE

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Case Study JOHN HENWOOD John and Annette Henwood’s property in the Kimberley in Western Australia is one of the larger private cattle stations in Australia. The Henwoods have invested significant time and money in fencing off large sections of the Margaret River that flows through their property.

By fencing off the river and propagating native plant species near the banks, the Henwoods have improved the health of the section of river flowing through the property, which has been found by the Western Australian Government to have the cleanest water along the river.

FOSSIL DOWNS,THE KIMBERLEY, WA

target100.com.auThis brochure is printed on Australian made, 100% recycled paper, FSC Mixed Source Certified (SGC-COC-2262) Published by Meat & Livestock Australia Limited, ABN 39 081 678 364, July, 2013 © Meat & Livestock Australia ISBN 9781741913866

DIETARY CONTRIBUTION OF BEEF & LAMB

• Beef and lamb are nutrient-rich protein foods. In Australia they are primarily consumed trimmed of fat and with vegetables, playing an important role in our diet, particularly as sources of iron, zinc, vitamin B12 and omega-3.

• When trimmed of fat, Australian beef and lamb have less than 4% saturated fat, earning the Heart Foundation’s Tick of Approval.

• The Australian Dietary Guidelines recommend eating meat, such as beef and lamb, 3 to 4 times a week.

• As a major exporter, the Australian beef and lamb industry makes an important contribution to food security in that it is one of the most efficient and safest in the world, using predominantly non arable land, little irrigation and predominantly human inedible grass.

ECONOMIC CONTRIBUTION• The Australian beef and lamb industry

provides direct employment to about 200,000 people and jobs for many others, especially in rural areas. It also contributes $16 billion to Australia’s economy each year.

GUARANTEEING THE QUALITY OF BEEF & LAMB • With a long-term commitment to food safety,

product integrity and traceability, Australia is internationally recognised as free of all major livestock diseases.

• The Meat Standards Australia (MSA) program certifies beef and sheepmeat has met quality standards for tenderness, juiciness and flavour. The system was developed by 86,000 consumers who tasted over 603,000 beef samples and 15,000 consumers taste testing over 90,000 sheepmeat samples.

• Australia’s National Livestock Identification System (NLIS) means every animal is identifiable throughout its life. NLIS is crucial to the safety and quality of Australian beef and lamb.

FAST FACTS