Brazen Beef, a Tyson Foods brand, claims its “climate friendly” beef production reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 10 percent compared to other beef.
But does this feedlot with thousands of animals in Nebraska, shown in the aerial picture below, look “climate friendly” to you?
Figure 1. An aerial picture of the feedlot in Nebraska supplying Brazen Beef
Source: Adams Land and Cattle Facebook page.
Brazen Beef claims to rely on farmers who help lower greenhouse gas emissions from beef production. The company cites changes in crop tillage, the adoption of cover crops and better nutrient management.
“We start strong with innovative, reliable farmers who raise crops using agricultural practices that can help reduce [greenhouse gas] emissions. Healthy soil and roots are key to healthy crops, and our farmer partners have the passion and expertise to cultivate them,” its website states.
But neither Brazen Beef nor Tyson publicly identifies the farmers or ranchers adopting these practices, nor does either of them explain the “restorative” practices that have been adopted. The companies do not publish data showing how these practices have cut the methane emissions produced by animals and their manure or the nitrous oxide emissions caused by fertilizing crops grown for animal feed.
According to Brazen Beef, its ranchers must “undergo a qualification process” but can also “customize the practices” they use to reduce greenhouse gas emissions “based on individualized needs,” including steps such as pasture rotation.
Ranchers producing cattle for Brazen Beef must meet the criteria of Tyson’s Climate-Smart Beef program, which it says includes audits and data sharing about cutting emissions. The program also aims to “work with enrolled producers … to integrate environmentally responsible agricultural practices.”
But like its brand Brazen Beef, Tyson does not offer details about farmers or the greenhouse gas reduction practices they have adopted.
In fact, Brazen Beef and Tyson only indirectly mention one farm where they source their “climate friendly” beef: Adams Land and Cattle, a Nebraska-based industrial feedlot operator claiming to be Brazen Beef’s sole supplier.
Figure 2. The Adams West Lot can easily be seen from space.
Source: EWG, from Department of Agriculture National Agriculture Imagery Program, 2021 imagery.
Adams states that it can “finish” 125,000 cattle at its feedlots. Cattle live in these feedlots for a few months to gain weight from corn before being sent for slaughter.
To sell cattle to Adams for use under the Brazen Beef seal, cattle producers must also show that the cattle are certified “BeefCARE,” a private animal welfare standard. Producers must also be enrolled in Tyson’s Climate-Smart Beef program and agree to “provide data necessary to support emissions calculations.”
But BeefCARE certification is no better than conventional industry guidelines, according to the Animal Welfare Institute, an anti-cruelty advocacy organization.
Few other details and calculations concerning Tyson’s and Adams’ climate-related claims are publicly available. Nor are any details available about the farmers supplying feed to Adams, or the location of the “regenerative and sustainable” practices it claims to have adopted.
Figure 3. Cattle on the Adams feedlot.
Source: Google Maps satellite imagery.
In support of their claim that these practices reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 10 percent when compared to other beef, Brazen Beef also avers that it has built an accounting model.
Its website states:
If we’re showing up for the climate, then we’ve got to show our work. Not only did we work with our supply chain to reduce [GHG] emissions by 10%, but we built a model that backs it up. We worked with researchers, technical experts and suppliers to track and reduce emissions from pasture to production as compared to emissions for conventional beef.
The substantiating model the website refers to isn’t available to the public.
Tyson on its website contends it “can now track beef emissions at the individual animal level,” and the data is collected and verified through third-party auditors, such as Progressive Beef, which is advised by a prominent meat defender, and Where Foods Comes From, a publicly traded company run by food industry insiders Leann Saunders and John Saunders.
But there is no publicly available information on data collection or verification from Where Food Comes From, or even how the company certifies Brazen Beef’s claims.
The Department of Agriculture is required by federal law to prohibit misleading claims on meat and dairy products. But when EWG sought more information from the USDA through a Freedom of Information Act request, the department redacted most of the documents sent to EWG, citing the need to protect “trade secrets” (Figure 4).
Figure 4. USDA redacted relevant information in their response to EWG’s FOIA request.
Source: USDA and EWG.
Can CAFOs ever be climate friendly?
Scientists have found that beef is always the worst choice for the climate.
Cattle and cows produce far more methane than other protein sources. When confined so densely in the largest meat production facilities – called concentrated animal feeding operations, or CAFOs – their manure pollutes air and water nearby.
But that’s not all. Because the grain in cows’ diets requires nitrogen fertilizer to grow, and cows consume more feed than other farm animals, beef is a primary driver of the increase in emissions of nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas nearly 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide.
Claiming beef is climate friendly is not only bad for the climate – it’s bad for consumers trying to do their part.
