Canadian researchers want to study how much carbon is released into the air from cow burps and farts..That study would open the door for the federal government to put a carbon tax on cow burps and farts like New Zealand implemented..READ MORE NZ first to put a carbon tax on cow farts.In an interview with the Western Standard, University of Alberta researcher Cameron Carlyle talked about a new study he's putting together to measure the carbon released into the air from cow belches and toots..“I was just in a meeting … to discuss trying to put together a new project where we tackle that question because it’s an important one for the beef industry,” said Carlyle..“And it’s an important one for conservation of grasslands … from the beef industry perspective. They're criticized for their greenhouse gas footprint, which is largely emissions from cattle. So, all their burping of methane out into the atmosphere.”.Saskatchewan Cattlemen’s Association (SCA) CEO Ryder Lee knew of New Zealand imposing a carbon tax on ranchers..“I heard that was coming. I haven’t combed through what their metrics will be or anything like that. But that’s part of why we’re looking to get this done so they're based on good numbers,” Lee told the Western Standard..Lee said the SCA needs to be involved in this sort of research because most of what's talked about is the climate change mission, with little details..“To date, so much of the conversation is about the mission, and that’s it. And they’re not looking at what’s going into the ground and where plants grow,” said Lee..“You see about half of what’s growing and above ground. But a lot goes down below.”.Lee said ranchers know the land and there could be economic opportunities..“Maybe there’s some value producers can realize from delivering on that carbon sequestration. But, we need to be able to measure it and in a low-cost method,” said Lee..“Research like this that can hopefully lower the cost of collecting that information but also show ways to do better.”.Presently, Carlyle started a study to see how much carbon is trapped in the ground on land where animals graze..“The two main goals of the project are to map and quantify the carbon that’s being held in the soil of forage lands that includes native grassland, pastures, and other lands,” said Carlyle..“The second part of the project is to identify management practices on those lands that can be used to increase the amount of carbon that gets stored within them.”.Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association (SSGA) President Garner Deobald told the Western Standard it's important to keep cattle ranches operating because it traps carbon in the ground, whereas a farm would release the carbon into the air..“The reduction in herd numbers could result in more grassland being converted to farmland,” said Deobald..“Removing the grass cover also eliminates the habitat that species at risk call home and releases carbon sequestered in the soil into the atmosphere as carbon emissions.”.Carlyle studied ranches in his first study and how the land where cattle graze keeps more carbon in the ground..“The first study we started looking at this issue and compared areas where there was grazing by cattle to areas where cattle had been excluded,” said Carlyle..“What we found in that study was that the areas that had cattle on them held more carbon in the soil than areas where there were no cattle.”.Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) is involved in the current study and wants to find out how carbon is stored in the ground and ways farmers can help to keep it there..“This research aims to quantify the environmental benefits of various grazing management practices in working grasslands. Basically, the link between what farmers do on the land they manage and how much carbon is stored,” DUC told the Western Standard..“This will help farmers identify grazing practices they can implement to sequester even more carbon. We hope research like this will contribute to the establishment of best practices for grazing management from a carbon storage and biodiversity perspective and potentially lead to programs to help farmers monetize the ecological value of their land.”.Between the current study of carbon trapped in the ground and the future study of cattle emissions, the researchers hope to find out how to balance the carbon emissions, according to Carlyle..“And then the question is how does that balance out against what’s being captured and sequestered in the land,” said Carlyle..“We’ve shown areas with cows can accumulate carbon in the land. The question becomes ‘What’s the balance between the burps and what’s being stored in the ground?’”.Carbon balancing is the research question Carlyle and his fellow researchers want to figure out..“We haven’t tackled that research question head-on. But it’s sort of a piece of math that needs to be done,” said Carlyle.
