Cattle producers and the environment

Canadian cattle producers care about the environment and the land they work on. They use management practices that protect the health of the animal and protect the environment by protecting water sources and working towards the maintenance of a sustainable agro-ecosystem. By practicing rotational grazing they maintain biodiversity and wildlife habitat and prevent erosion.

Cattle are often raised on land that is unsuitable for producing grain or vegetable crops and they eat grasses that people can’t digest. This land could be cultivated to try and grow food crops but this process would destroy natural habitat and wildlife. Grazing animals on this land more than doubles the land area that can be used to produce food in Canada. Thus, cattle production is an effective and efficient way to provide a nutrient-dense protein by converting non-human quality forage/crop products into meat products.

Management practices that protect the environment and the health and well-being of cattle make sense financially because cattle that are happy and healthy produce better beef.