Sustainability and Beef Production in the UK

The Argument for eating grass-fed red meat

 Colleton cattle are proud to be part of the solution to global warming, certainly not part of the problem. This is because our cattle live entirely on forage, mostly grass, grown in pasture which itself is a carbon sink.  In fact pasture is a close runner up to trees when it comes to capturing and storing carbon.  The older the pasture, the greater the amount of organic matter in the soil and therefore the greater amount of carbon it can store.

Granted, our cows do belch, they can’t help it, it is part of the digestive process, and this releases methane.  However, methane has a far shorter half-life in the atmosphere than carbon, 9.1 years versus hundreds of years!  So storing a lot of carbon and releasing a little methane is a win-win for the planet. Here at Colleton, our cattle graze on permanent pasture and we are also committed to regenerative agriculture, so we are experimenting with adding a variety of legumes and herbs to our shorter term pastures.  The cattle love this mixed pasture and it is much better for them than grass on its own.  Not only do the variety of herbs and legumes increase the carbon capturing capacity of the pasture, but they also provide food and habitat for a wider variety of wildlife than grass on its own.  Also, some of the deep rooted legumes improve the water holding capacity of the soil, thus reducing the risk of flooding.

I know this story is very different from what is being pumped out by the media, but this is because the media hype is all aimed at cattle finished in feed lots, typically in America and Australia.  British native breed cattle are typically grown and finished on pasture and here at Colleton we are committed to ensuring that our cattle have the best diet possible. Healthy pasture-fed cattle also provide superb healthy meat brimming with Omega3 fatty acids. 

If you want to find out more about really good  eating, see Dr. Sally Bell: www.drsallybell.com/

blog/2020/8/14/could-eating-meat-save-the-planet   

Grania Phillips, February 2021: colletonredrubydevon.co.uk