Agricultural Stakeholder Outreach
Attitudes & Perceptions Towards Methane Reductions in Beef
The importance of Canadian beef production in the context of Albertan economics, environment, and identity, cannot be understated. With the highest percentage of the national beef herd located in Alberta, beef cattle producers are crucial in the transformation of the sector to ensure sustainable practices that reduce enteric methane emissions.
The Canadian Beef Advisors, consisting of national beef organizations involved in Canadian beef marketing, policy, research, and sustainability, announced Canada’s National Beef Strategy in 2015. The strategy aims to ensure Canadian beef production practices adapt to changes in markets across sustainability and environmental dimensions, with a target to reduce primary production GHG emission intensity by 33 percent by 2030. This goal aligns with current Agricultural and Agri-Food Canada’s research on methane emission reductions and offers critical perspective on the role of beef cattle production in ecosystem services, through carbon sequestration and pasture grazing management.
Ultimately, the choice to implement and adopt practices will depend on the cattle producer at the on-farm level.