⏳ Estimated Reading Time: 7 - 9 minutes

Identify different methods of meat production and describe the benefits and drawbacks of different methods of meat production.

Meat Production

At first glance, it may appear strange to see a lesson about meat production methods in a course about the environment. This topic seems more suitable for an agricultural science course, right? When you consider the environmental impacts of producing meat, you’ll begin to see why this topic fits in this course.

Variety of fresh meat cuts displayed in a butcher shop - arranged on trays & indicating types and prices. — **Have you ever thought about the environmental impact of the meat in your grocery store?**

How that meat gets from farms and ranches to dinner tables involves a number of steps, each of which can potentially lead to air pollution, water pollution, and damage to grazing lands.

There are two main types of meat production - feedlots or concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) and free-range grazing. We will discuss both methods in this lesson.

Essential Knowledge

Methods of meat production include concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), also called feedlots, and free-range grazing.

Free-Range Grazing

With the growing movement towards organic farming, growing food without chemical fertilizers and pesticides, many people have started to question the wisdom of raising animals in confined operations. As an alternative to CAFOs, free range operations have multiplied. According to the U. S. Department of Agriculture, animals raised in a “free range” setting must be “produced by being housed in buildings, rooms, or areas that allow for unlimited access to food, water, and continuous access to the outdoors.”

A photo of a herd of cattle grazing on a green field with a forest and a person on horseback in the background. — **Free range animals are able to enjoy a life that is nearer to what they might expect in a natural setting.**

The idea of free-range meat production appeals to people who would like the animals that end up at the market to have a better quality of life prior to becoming a product. There are other benefits to this type of meat production. Meat produced using free range methods tends to be lower in antibiotics, growth hormones, and other chemicals typically found in CAFO animals. Waste from free range animals is not concentrated and can simply act as fertilizer to the ecosystem rather than being a hazard to waterways.

Why isn’t all meat produced in a free-range setting? First, free range animals require larger tracts of land on which to grow. This increases the cost of production of meat from those animals. Secondly, fewer animals can be produced per land area which also leads to decreased profits for the producer. The bottom line is that meat produced using free range methods is more expensive than meat grown in CAFOs. So, there is a trade-off, but an increasing number of people are willing to pay a higher price for free range meat just like they are willing to pay a higher price for organically grown produce.

Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs)

A photo of an indoor poultry farm with many white chickens. — **CAFOs are typically used with cattle, swine, and poultry.**

A lot of meat is produced using confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs), aka feedlots. In this type of production, animals are confined to small areas and fed a very specific diet intended to quickly get the animal large enough for slaughter.

There are over 400,000 CAFOs in operation just in the United States. In a CAFO, animal waste, disease, dead animals, air pollution, and water pollution are all potential problems.

Due to the high density of many animals in a small area, diseases are a constant threat. To combat this, many meat producers inject their animals with antibiotics to keep the disease threat at a minimum.

These antibiotics may remain present in the meat when it is sold at market, not a desirable consequence of this practice. Additionally, some producers rely on growth hormones to quickly increase the size of animals in order to get them to market soon. Growth hormones may also be present in meat when sold at the market.

A photo of a farm with a large barn housing cows and a muddy area with a pool of water. — **CAFOs produce copious amounts of animal waste.**

Because the animals are concentrated in a small area yet produce copious amounts of manure and urine, the waste must be carefully dealt with, or it could run off into local streams, rivers, and lakes. When large amounts of animal waste (or other nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus) make their way into waterways, algae populations explode, eventually die, and rob the water of dissolved oxygen. This condition is known as cultural eutrophication.

A photo of a row of cows feeding at a farm. — **Cattle are especially notorious for producing large quantities of methane (a greenhouse gas) when they pass gas or belch.**

CAFOs are also associated with air pollution in the form of hydrogen sulfide (the “rotten egg” smell), particulate matter, ammonia gas, and methane.

Methane is a greenhouse gas and cattle are especially notorious for producing large quantities of methane when they pass gas or belch. All cattle—whether in a CAFO or not—produce methane. The methane production is much more concentrated in a CAFO, however.

Another environmental impact associated with meat production is overgrazing which can lead to desertification. Desertification is defined as “the degradation of low precipitation regions toward being increasingly arid until they become deserts.”

The map below shows areas of the world that are currently at risk of desertification:

The map color-codes desertification vulnerability: red for high, yellow for moderate, and green for low. Red dominates Africa, Asia, and South America, yellow is scattered, and green covers North America, Europe, and Australia. Grey areas lack data, notably in central Asia and northern Africa.

The simple act of animals eating grass isn’t an issue until you have too many animals in too small of a grazing area (a tragedy of the commons issue). At this point, the available forage can be overeaten, leading to an inability of the forage to make a comeback. Additionally, the trampling of hooves on the soil in the grazed area leads to compaction of soil. Compaction restricts the percolation of water into the soil and can further damage the ability of plants in the area to access nutrients and air with their roots.

Essential Knowledge

Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) are used as a way to quickly get livestock ready for slaughter. They tend to be crowded, and animals are fed grains or feed that are not as suitable as grass. Additionally, feedlots generate a large amount of organic waste, which can contaminate ground and surface water.

If CAFOs are so bad, why are they used so widely as a meat production method?

The answer lies with us - the consumer. Meat produced in CAFOs is less expensive than other meat production methods. For people in poorer countries or on a limited income, less expensive meat is of paramount importance, assuming they eat meat.

Essential Knowledge

The use of feedlots is less expensive than other methods, which can keep costs to consumers down.

Meat vs. Plant Production

Meat is consumed by billions of humans worldwide, but billions of humans also eat plants raised in the form of crops, fruits, and vegetables.

Is there a difference in the impacts related to meat production versus plant production?

The answer to this question lies in understanding the differing ways that meat is produced. When meat is produced with the environment and animal ethics in mind, it can have low environmental impacts (think free-range grazing). When done solely with profit in mind, meat production can wreak havoc on ecosystems (think feedlots and CAFOs).

A photo of a vegetable market with various fresh produce on display and a customer selecting vegetables. — **Meat production is 20x less efficient than growing plant-based food.**

One of the first things to consider about meat production from an environmental standpoint is that meat production is less efficient than growing plant-based food. It takes about 20 times less land to produce the same number of calories from plants than it does meat.

Using 20 times more land to produce meat starts to give you an idea of one of the major environmental impacts of meat production. We also discussed some of the problems associated with raising animals for food in this lesson.

Consuming less meat could reduce the pollutants associated with meat production. Carbon dioxide, methane, and other air pollutants could be reduced, water could be conserved, the use of antibiotics and growth hormones could be eliminated, and topsoil could be improved rather than succumbing to desertification.

Although many people enjoy meat in their diet, a plant-based diet has many advantages. With careful planning, a plant-based diet can be substituted for a meat-based diet, or at the very least, our reliance on meat can be reduced.

Essential Knowledge

Meat production is less efficient than agriculture; it takes approximately 20 times more land to produce the same amount of calories from meat as from plants.

AP Exam Tip

You should understand the problems associated with CAFOs and feedlots and why these meat production methods exist.

You should understand the differences between growing animals for food and growing plants for food.

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