Yle Uutiset reported yesterday that beef production could be the number one foodstuff to put a strain on the Baltic Sea – a claim that meat producers now say they will not stomach.
The stress on the seas is based on the MTT research institute’s calculations of necessary cattle fodder and thus arable land leading nutrients out into the sea through groundwaters and rivers.
”Without beef production, the number of turf-covered fields would diminish, leading to erosion and nutrient multiplication,” according to the Central Union of Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners (MTK). The lobby claims that without beef production, the strain on the Baltic would be even greater.
The beef division of the MTK and beef cattle union Pihvikarjaliitto both say that bulls are fed herbaceous forage, i.e. green feed.
“The herbaceous fodder is taken from fields that do not need yearly cultivation, which is a more ecological alternative to grain farming in terms of both CO2 emissions and water seepage,” Antti Veräväinen from the beef cattle union says.
“Although the total acreage of the land used for beef productoin is high, more important still is the way the earth is tilled and managed. It’s too simplistic to say that beef production puts a bigger strain on waters just because bulls need more feed than smaller animals,” he explained.