Greetings from the Georgia National Fair!  We are in Perry, Georgia this week exhibiting cattle and taking the opportunity to promote an industry that provides so much to our livelihoods.  Not only from a foodstuff standpoint, the cattle business is a family business which is apparent as I look around the barn and see children and their parents working diligently on 4-H and FFA projects.  The Georgia Cattleman’s Association has large booth set up for the youth attending the fair that spreads the word about the importance of beef in a healthy diet, developing confidence in the American food supply, and clarifying misconceptions about how cattle are raised.

Speaking of clarifying misconceptions!  Contrary to what one may gather from the media, cattle play a very important role in caring for and improving our environment.  Recent publicity has led Americans to believe that ruminant animals are a large contributor to global warming and climate change. 

The Environmental Protection Agency, www.epa.gov, provides information on ruminant livestock and their impact on climate change.  Their website states that in the United States methane released from cattle accounts for about 20 percent of methane emissions, which breaks down to be 5.5 million metric tons per year.  According to the EPA, the most promising approach for reducing methane emissions from U.S. livestock is by improving the productivity and efficiency of livestock production.  They go on to offer a list of management practices that can also reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

For those of you in the cattle business, you know that these methane reducing solutions supplied by the EPA are common sense practices within our industry.  For those industry outsiders, cattlemen are working to improve the environment and lower methane emissions from their herds as they, for the most part, are already complying with the standards listed above.  If these are the solutions, we are on track for achieving the goal of methane reduction. 

I encourage each of you to click on the following link (www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/ind_calculator2.html) and calculate the impact that your household has on greenhouse gas emissions.  This exercise is a quick and simple way that you can identify the things that you do that majorly influence our environment.  It also offers ideas and solutions for you to do your part in the name of saving the environment.  Let’s face the facts.  It’s not cattle or cattlemen that are causing the most damage to the environment and resulting in global warming.  Instead it is our everyday lifestyle that is causing the most destruction.