Dispatch from Australia: Meat for dinner?
Australia’s agricultural economy depends on meat. What does this mean for sustainability?
by Dahlia Bolt
Image courtesy of Conner Baker.
Nearly all countries use some land for agriculture, and Australia is no different. Australians, however, use 55% of all land, not just arable land, for their farming. One may imagine this land consisting mostly of crop fields filled with produce, but in Australia, 44.8% of agricultural land is used for natural vegetation grazing and 9.24% is used for modified grazing pastures[1]. This means that approximately 54% of Australian land is used to feed animals for dairy, pelts, or slaughter. A significant amount of land is used for the beef industry as reflected in the Australian economy. According to Safe Food, Queensland, four percent of global beef production comes from Australia, making it the third-largest producer of beef internationally (even the United States imports some beef from Australia).
The Australian diet is indicative of this large production too since on average every individual consumes 20kg (about 44.1lbs) of produced beef annually, and this figure has had an upward trend.[2] With the economic benefits and popularity of beef in Australia, it is no wonder why production has continued to increase. That said, these habits and production trends are not environmentally stable, and continuing down the same path may lead to continued climate disasters, worsened public health, and a land crisis.
Climate change is undeniably related to modern, standard agricultural practices, and the worst offender appears to be the meat industry with beef being the leader in environmental damage. Cattle farming has been directly linked to higher production of greenhouse gasses, which affects climate change, and also often leads to habitat loss and the destruction of natural ecosystems due to the need for land.[3] The change of vegetation and wildlife in an area can in turn change the climate of the region. For example, if all native tree species in a region are cut down or otherwise removed to make space for cattle farms, the land is then exposed to harsh rains and high temperatures, meaning the land cannot revert to what it was prior to the cattle farm. The exposed land has had its nutrients washed away by rain, grazing grass has overgrown the region and will outcompete seedinglings for the remaining space, and the new temperature of the now exposed ground means the original species cannot grow there anymore without extensive work. This example is a reality in Queensland; much of the land used to farm cattle is now barren, and drought frequency and intensity have increased in the region possibly as a result[4][5]. More than 80% of the state was declared to be in a drought from 2015 to 2017 with 65% still in a drought[6].
The increase in drought is not the only part of the beef industry negatively affecting Australia’s health. Heart disease, obesity, stroke, and cancer rates have climbed with the increase in meat consumption, and these are only some of the medical problems linked to this diet. Australians who consume excessive amounts of red meat can expect ten fewer years of life in addition to a decreased life quality due to the health complications from eating beef. Aside from consuming meat directly, there are a variety of diseases and bacteria that can affect humans who interact with cattle directly.[7][8] There are no explicit numbers regarding cattle-only farming-related deaths in Australia nor disease transmission from cattle to humans, but these other increased health risks from the beef industry should be considered alongside the dietary-related risks.
There is a related mental health detriment from the beef industry too; young adults are looking to buy a home and cannot afford the ones currently for sale. Australia is facing a housing crisis as well as an environmental and health one; the mean dwelling price in Australia is 652,120 USD (920,100 AUD, converted May 2022) as of 2021.[9]Almost two-thirds of Australians believe they will never be able to afford a home as a result, and yet there a large portion of land that could be redeveloped into affordable housing is occupied by beef farms.[10] The New South Wales government had a set of guidelines and a framework of implementation in place to subdivide rural farmland into residential zoning in 2009, and this framework is still used today in the state.[11] On the flip side, there are concerns that using this same framework can destroy Australian farming in an effort to give everyone a home.[12]Truthfully, none of the problems described so far could be solved by removing the industry completely without an alternative in place.
It may seem like it would be best to suspend beef farming altogether, but the red meat (including sheep and goat) industry in Australia produces 405,000 jobs (about 3% of Australia’s workforce) and generates 9.92 USD (14 billion AUD, converted May 2022) in export revenue alone. Much like how one could say to cut the mining industry completely due to its negative impacts, the economic benefit of the beef industry is too large to remove it completely. In addition, since 90% of Australians eat beef, there would be a significant cut in food supply should the industry be removed overnight.[13] There needs to be a gradual shift in the Australian economy to maintain a stable future.
There is no easy answer regarding the safety of Australia’s beef industry. To change the industry into something else entirely could lead to a decreased rate of climate change increase, fewer public health concerns, and more affordable land, yet removing the industry would also remove jobs and food security. More than likely, a steady shift towards other types of meat may occur in the future, or perhaps lab-grown meat may be the answer. Unfortunately still, even changing to a different type of meat or using lab grown meat presents social, environmental, and economic challenges that warrant an article of their own. Still, a change is needed, but it is unclear what change will happen with the industry.
Dahlia Bolt is a sophomore at New York University where she is majoring in chemical and biomolecular engineering and has a focus on agricultural technologies. She is spending one semester abroad in Australia where she is studying their agricultural industry.
