A New Research Investigates How Brazilian Cattle Farmers Adapt to Climate Change in the Amazon

Global agricultural producers must adjust to shifting weather patterns.

Much research has focused on agricultural mitigation techniques, but animal farmers have particular concerns.

New research looks at how Brazilian cattle farmers are dealing with climate change in the Amazon.

According to a previous study, the dry season is rising by up to 0.6 days every year. This puts animals under more stress, and farmers are more likely to sell their cattle early, as per ScienceDaily.

How cattle ranchers in Brazil cope with weather shocks

(Photo : THIERRY ZOCCOLAN/AFP via Getty Images)

New research from the University of Illinois investigates how Brazilian cattle farmers adapt to climate change in the Amazon.

According to a previous study, the dry season is rising by up to 0.6 days every year.

According to Marin Skidmore, assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics at the University of Idaho, this causes more stress on animals and makes ranchers more eager to sell their cattle early.

Brazil is the world's second-largest producer of beef and its main exporter.

The Amazon, which is particularly vulnerable to climate change and deforestation, is home to 40% of Brazil's cattle.

I kept hearing from cattle farmers about how they had to modify their operations to deal with the dry season. They're used to a dry season every year, but Skidmore believes it's growing worse.

Ranchers discuss "the accordion effect," she observes. Every year, the animals gain weight during the rainy season, lose weight during the dry season, and then gain weight again during the rainy season.

This comes at a cost, of course, but they were able to get by with the dry season as it was. The weight loss worsened as the situation worsened, and they saw animal losses and earnings losses.

Ranchers make judgments regarding the impending dry season based on rainfall trends, according to focus group data.

It rains every day throughout the rainy season. The rain will then become intermittent, and ranchers will watch to see how erratic it is and how early it arrives.

When ranchers expect a lengthy dry season, they have many alternatives.

They can sell the animals for slaughter, and then no one is responsible for feeding them. However, Skidmore believes that you may have an animal that is not quite ready for killing.

The animal can then be sold to a confinement facility where grain is fed to the animal.

Confinement operations complete an animal significantly faster than pasture-based activities.

As a result, there will be an initial boost in cattle supply, but supply will subsequently reduce the next year, resulting in supply peaks and troughs.

Skidmore's findings also suggest that the region's pasture-based output is typically vulnerable to drought since many pastures are damaged and rapidly become unproductive.

Furthermore, present manufacturing technologies are not designed to deal with heat stress.

The animals are outside in bright sunshine, with no cover or water sprinklers to keep them cool.

Investing in better management strategies to improve pastures and deal with heat stress might so benefit the region.

According to Skidmore, the research helps to understand how cattle producers adjust to harsh weather occurrences.

A large portion of the climate change literature focuses on agricultural growers. However, animals have lives, which opens up a whole new set of adaptive techniques for livestock producers.

Ranchers are taking advantage of this, and it has the potential to significantly alter the structure of the supply chain, she finds.

The worldwide issue

Globally, reducing livestock's carbon footprint is a major concern. Livestock accounts for 14.5 percent of world greenhouse gas emissions, as per UC Davis.

India, for example, has the world's greatest cow population but the world's lowest beef consumption. As a result, cows live longer lives and produce more methane. Furthermore, cows in tropical locations produce less milk and meat, thus they take longer to reach the market.

"If you have hundreds of millions of cattle to produce a meager amount of product, that comes with a high environmental footprint," said Frank Mitloehner, one of several UC Davis researchers looking into cost-effective ways to make livestock production more environmentally sustainable around the world.

UC Davis researchers are working on initiatives in Vietnam, Ethiopia, and Burkina Faso to increase cattle output through improved nutrition.

This might be crucial in the future as meat consumption rises in emerging nations.

We anticipate a 300 percent rise in Asian beef consumption by 2050, according to Ermias Kebreab, professor of animal science and head of the UC Davis World Food Center.

Kebreab, Mitloehner, and other UC Davis researchers are exploring for methods to make cows more environmentally friendly and less gassy.

One method is to make their high-fiber food simpler to digest, thus scientists frequently use feed additives to accomplish this.

It may appear straightforward, but finding an inexpensive and healthy addition has proven tough.

In addition to lowering methane emissions, seaweed does not alter the flavor of cows' milk. He is now putting the diet to the test on beef cattle. It might be a reasonably affordable way to reduce pollution.

This variety of red seaweed, Asparagopsis taxiformis, has one major disadvantage: a natural harvest is unlikely to generate a sufficient quantity for widespread acceptance.