THE PHENOMENAL work that has gone into fully utilising the entire beef carcase is one of the headline acts of the Australian Beef Sustainability Framework's yearly report card.
Launched today in Sydney, the annual update says that last year, the industry managed to recover 2.39 million tonnes of food waste along the supply chain - products that have been diverted from landfill.
Up to the wholesaler level, the industry has been able to eliminate waste to an incredible extent.
This particular measurement speaks to the extensive work the processing sector has put into full carcase utilisation, where a home has been found for everything from nose to tail.
ABSF chair Mark Davie said Australian beef co-products were now going to so many varied markets and into a range of products, from cosmetics to Eastern medicines - some of them very high value.
"This is an excellent step forward as reducing waste will also reduce greenhouse gas emissions per kilogram of beef produced," he said.
Each year, the ABSF reports on beef's sustainability performance by providing numbers and data against key indicators covering environmental stewardship, animal care, economic resilience and people and the community.
On the way to CN30
The 2022 report shows the beef industry has made big strides towards achieving its self-set goal of carbon neutrality by 2030, with the reduction in carbon dioxide emissions at 58.21 per cent on the base year of 2005, up from a 51pc reduction last year.
The figures in the report paint a picture of the overall GHG emissions profile associated with beef production that is far different from the one so often touted by the anti-livestock lobby.
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Analysis of the generation, mitigation and sequestration of emissions shows the industry is making substantial on-farm and in-business changes and delivering tangible change.
Annual emissions sit at 48.5 mega tonnes, having decreased by 9.4Mt since 2018.
The report links that to a reduction in the area of woody vegetation and forest which has been cleared, although it notes there has also been a small reduction in methane emissions from enteric fermentation associated with a decrease in cattle numbers during 2019.
The cattle industry is able to sequester carbon in on-farm vegetation to reduce net carbon dioxide emissions, and draw atmospheric carbon. The amount sequestered in on-farm vegetation sits at 20.887Mt.
Improvements have been lodged in the amount of carbon dioxide equivalent emitted per kilogram of live weight produced, which the latest figures have at 12.6kg.
Likewise, there are improvements in the amount emitted per tonne of hot standard carcase weight when processing beef - it is at 397kg.
Mr Davie said in regards to carbon emissions, the beef industry had defined a problem and set about investing in research and development to address it.
Because of the CN30 initiative, Australian beef was now leading the global narrative on emissions reduction, he said.
CN30 also sends a clear message to global customers and consumers that the Australian red meat industry is serious about addressing GHG emissions, according to the report.
Environmental stewardship
On the wider environmental stewardship front, the percentage of cattle-producing land managed for biodiversity outcomes is at a massive 43pc.
There are now 7,600,000 hectares of cattle-producing land set aside for conservation or protection purposes. This is 2.33pc of total grazing land.
The reports says producers are well aware conservation of significant sites is important, and are trying to find the correct balance of land set aside and land used for production.
Grazing land is also in good shape, with 79.6pc of natural resource management regions achieving healthy groundcover thresholds in 2021, as measured in September in the late dry season - a key indicator of land condition.
Mr Davie said graziers and beef producers had prioritised the health of their land after years of unprecedented drought.
"Sustainable grazing practices which support livestock businesses to improve productivity through feedbase management are a high priority across all regions," he said.
"Technology advancements are supporting producers to measure their feedbases more accurately and make more informed decisions for the benefit of their land.
"However, this is also a space where we would like to see more work done, as connectivity and interpretation of data are some of the barriers preventing landholders from further adoption of practices to promote groundcover and biodiversity."
Animal welfare
Solid strides are also being made in animal welfare. A total of 35pc of the industry now uses pain relief for invasive husbandry practices. That is a 5pc lift compared to last year's report.
The industry has set a goal of 100pc use of pain relief by 2030.
Prioritising the welfare of animals through pain relief, across the full scope of the supply chain, was not only paramount to the trust industry shares with customers and communities, it also demonstrated the sector's commitment to the improved care of animals, and will be a differentiator of Australian beef in global markets, Mr Davie said.