When NFU Livestock Board Chair David Barton attended the IMS World Meat Congress and the World Farmers' pre-COP30 Summit in Brazil last November, it presented an opportunity for the NFU to represent British farming on a world platform.
Dominating the conversation was greenhouse gas measurements and the methodology for accurately reporting emissions from livestock.
The NFU favours a split-gas approach and has been a leading voice in calling on other farming organisations from around the world to sign a joint letter urging governments to adopt a split-gas approach to methane accounting.
By recognising that methane is a short-lived gas and therefore behaves differently to long-lived gases like CO2, split-gas accounting offers better calculation accuracy and allows for more informed policy decisions.
Supply, demand and production
Turning to other topics of learning while in Brazil, David reports on the supply and demand for red meat across the globe.
Encouragingly, demand is currently being overtaken by supply, putting British livestock farmers in prime position to increase production and grow existing and new markets around the world. David stresses the high quality product that British farmers have to offer and the importance on capitalising on opportunities.
David also reports on the different production operations in Brazil, reflecting on a visit to a Brazilian cattle ranch, and on speaking at the World Farmers' pre-COP30 Summit and the opportunities that presented to highlight the high welfare and environmental standards that British beef and lamb is produced to.
