Is hormone-fed beef better for the environment?

Pound for pound, beef produced with grains and growth hormones produces 40% less greenhouse gas emissions and saves two-thirds more land compared to organic grass-fed beef, claims a ‘beef eco-report’ from the US Center for Global Food Issues (CGFI).

Analysts at the CGFI reached these startling conclusions using beef production models from Iowa State University’s Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture and greenhouse gas emissions estimates from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (UN IPCC).

More than 95% of beef produced in the US is raised on grain-based diets in feedlots, supplemented with both natural and synthetic growth hormones.

The report details the human and environmental safety requirements for the use of supplemental hormones on feedlots, as well as environmental monitoring studies that show no significant negative impacts from their use.

The analysis also compared the land costs and greenhouse gas emissions of organic grass-based beef with hormone supplemented beef.

It claimed beef fed with grain and hormones saved two-thirds more land ‘for nature’ and produced 40% less greenhouse gas emissions per pound of beef produced, compared to organic grass-feeding.

“Environmentally conscious consumers who have been told that grass-raised beef is more environmentally sensitive and sustainable should rethink their beef purchases in light of our findings,” says lead author Alex Avery, director of research at the CGFI.

The full report can be found at www.cgfi.org.