Cerro Pelado (Uruguay) (AFP)
In Uruguay, a country virtually devoid of industries and with nearly four cattle per capita, cattle alone are responsible for 62% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
An international program aims to green livestock, the country's main export product.
Some 12 million oxen, calves and cows frolic in the immense meadows of this small country of 3.4 million inhabitants, the size of a quarter of France.
But if the Uruguayans remain the world champions in meat consumption (50 kg / year / person), most of the production goes abroad, in particular to China.
Thus, the meat sector and its derivatives represent the first export item (16%) and a major source of foreign exchange.
In 2019, 2.2 million cattle slaughtered and exported brought in some $ 1.83 billion, or 83% of export revenues for the entire meat industry, according to the National Meat Institute (INAC).
However, the 19,800 tonnes of CO2 equivalent released each year, mainly methane from the digestion of cows, "plays an important role in climate change", recalls Cecilia Jones, of the Agricultural Unit for Sustainability and Climate Change at Uruguayan Ministry of Livestock (MGAP).
In an attempt to reduce its carbon footprint, Uruguay has therefore been leading the "Livestock and Climate" project since 2020 with technical support from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Agency (FAO) and funding from the Fund. for the Global Environment (GEF).
The goal is to reduce direct and indirect GHG emissions, "sequester" carbon in the soil and reverse land degradation processes "through climate-smart practices," told AFP Soledad Bergos, national coordinator of the project.
It is also about increasing productivity to have fewer cows in the fields.
The characteristic of Uruguayan breeding "is that it is mainly practiced on natural pastures (...) an extremely precious resource", recalls the agronomist.
In Uruguay, temperate grasslands occupy 50% of the territory, against 8% on the planet as a whole.
Field management is therefore at the heart of the project, as a pasture in good condition stores more carbon.
"We have learned to regulate grazing", stresses Ms. Bergos because "the more the grass has strands and length, the better it is".
It is also a question of knowing how many cattle can support a field according to the season.
- Synchronization -
A total of 62 cattle farms are participating in the project, including that of Rosa Correa, 56, who manages an 800 hectare farm with her husband Alejandro in Cerro Pelado, in the department of Lavalleja (east).
The synchronization of the matings then the gestations, as well as the weaning of the calves, are some of the practices which she and her husband started to implement on the advice of the technicians of the FAO.
"They are all going to be pregnant at the same time," explains the breeder, observing a group of about twenty cows in her field.
By synchronizing the studs, about 85% of cows get pregnant, instead of the 45-50% in the past.
This is "one of the ways to increase productivity in a sustainable way," she told AFP, because we get more kilos of meat (veal) without increasing the number of cattle.
The advice distilled prompted the family to reorganize, without incurring additional expenses, their way of working which had been passed down through the generations.
There remains the question of global meat consumption.
According to the environmental NGO Greenpeace, "a 50% reduction in the production of meat and dairy products by 2050 from current levels would reduce GHG emissions from the agricultural sector by 64%. % ".
And recent statements by US billionaire Bill Gates about the need for rich countries to consume synthetic meat to fight climate change have sparked an uproar in Uruguay.
"There are people who say + cattle do not pollute, other things pollute much more! + Yes, okay, but the objective is to try not to pollute anything", emphasizes Rosa Correa.
© 2021 AFP