Some Truths About Sustainability

Chuck Zimmerman

Frank MitloehnerThe S word came up during the Animal Agriculture Alliance Stakeholders Summit in a big way during a presentation by Dr. Frank Mitloehner, Agriculture Air Quality Center Director, University of California, Davis. That word is sustainability. He talked about research he conducted that debunked the “Livestock’s Long Shadow” report that was published by the FAO in 2006. That report had major errors with the biggest being miscalculations of data when comparing greenhouse gas emissions between livestock and human transportation.

I spoke with Frank to get an executive summary of his remarks. During his research he found a lot of interesting things and shares some in our interview. One that stuck out for me was his finding that in Mexico it takes 5 dairy cows to produce the same quantity of milk as one in the United States. Our dairies have become models of efficiency and it’s a great story to tell. You can find copies of Dr. Mitloehner’s research online.

You can listen to my interview with Frank here: Frank Mitloehner Interview

Animal Ag Alliance Stakeholders Summit Photo Album

Ag Groups, Animal Agriculture, Audio, University