A new study found that cows do not contribute to climate change.
The study comes as many farmers and ranchers have faced scrutiny from governments who claim cattle herds add to alleged global warming.
According to research from agribusiness groups Alltech and Archbold, the cattle grazing cycle mitigates climate change.
Without cattle grazing, wetland soils release greater amounts of methane. When cattle graze, dead plant matter is removed from the site.
Dr. Betsey Boughton, director of agroecology at Archbold, measured greenhouse gas emissions on one pasture with grazing, and one pasture without grazing. She found that cattle grazing contributes to the net reduction of emissions.
“Every year, we sequester 1,201 tons of CO2 equivalent at Archbold’s Buck Island Ranch and all of this work is scalable to other parts of the world,” Boughton said in a press release. “The narrative people have heard is that cows are bad for the environment, but grazing animals can actually change the function of grasslands. Cows are eating the grass and not allowing as much decomposition to happen on the ground. Without cows, we actually see more carbon emitted.”
Instead of condemning farming practices, the agriculture sector “can be one of the most powerful weapons in the fight against climate change,” the news release stated.
Despite cows not being a threat to the global ecosystem, Bill Gates has contributed millions of dollars to a vaccine developer looking to create a livestock vaccine reducing the amount of methane emissions.
ArkeaBio, a Boston-based vaccine developer, received $12 million from Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV) for the endeavor.
Last year, Bill Gates invested in an Australian startup company that also sought to combat methane emissions from cows.