Livestock Grazing Report Released by Sustainable Food Trust
In a groundbreaking report published on May 9, 2025, the Sustainable Food Trust challenges the common narrative surrounding livestock farming and sustainability. Titled "Grazing Livestock: It's not the cow but the how," the report emphasizes that the environmental impact of livestock is largely determined by the methods of grazing and land management, rather than the presence of cows themselves.
Jimmy Woodrow, Chief Executive of Pasture for Life, finds the report action-oriented and accessible, as it articulates the implications and solutions clearly. The report presents a case for the role of grazing livestock in transforming the UK food system, graphically illustrating the multifunctional role of sheep and cattle in a biologically based food system when managed thoughtfully and intentionally.
The key message of the report is significant for a sustainable food system in the UK. It challenges the notion that reducing livestock numbers alone is the solution to food system sustainability and climate goals. Instead, it highlights that adopting appropriate grazing management can maintain rural livelihoods, support ecosystem restoration, and reduce agriculture’s carbon footprint without necessarily requiring drastic reductions in livestock.
Sustainable grazing can improve soil health, enhance biodiversity, and contribute to climate mitigation by sequestering carbon. This is achieved through practices such as regenerative or rotational grazing, which contrast with intensive conventional livestock farming, which tends to have high greenhouse gas emissions and land degradation.
The report offers six key recommendations for real and lasting action involving various roles in the supply chain, including policy and finance. Nikki Yoxall, Technical Director of Pasture for Life, finds the report's holistic approach to ruminant livestock's role in sustainable food futures significant. She emphasizes that grazing livestock can contribute to a more efficient and resilient UK food system by converting grass into nutrient-dense food. In a changing climate, it's crucial to produce food in resilient farm systems, and grass can be grown even when crops fail.
Jimmy also encourages the public to ask more questions about the proportion of grass and forage in livestock diets. He suggests that to support this vision, the public should look for Pasture for Life certified products, as the generic 'grass-fed' term in the UK only requires 51% of the diet to be grass.
The report is significant due to its holistic approach to ruminant livestock's role in sustainable food futures. It was not produced by a livestock-focused organization but by one concerned with food sustainability across the supply chain. This nuanced perspective supports a more resilient and sustainable UK food system by integrating livestock into holistic land management instead of eliminating it wholesale. Thus, the report is important for guiding policy, farming practice, and public discourse toward a balanced, ecologically informed approach to sustainable livestock farming in the UK.
- The Sustainable Food Trust's report, published on May 9, 2025, highlights that appropriate grazing management can maintain rural livelihoods, support ecosystem restoration, and reduce agriculture’s carbon footprint, without necessitating drastic reductions in livestock.
- Regenerative or rotational grazing practices can improve soil health, enhance biodiversity, and contribute to climate mitigation by sequestering carbon, contrasting with the high greenhouse gas emissions and land degradation of intensive conventional livestock farming.
- The report urges various roles in the supply chain, including policy and finance, to act upon six key recommendations that focus on sustainable grazing methods in transforming the UK food system.
- Nikki Yoxall, Technical Director of Pasture for Life, finds the report's holistic approach to ruminant livestock's role in sustainable food futures significant, emphasizing that grazing livestock can convert grass into nutrient-dense food in a changing climate, making food production more resilient.
- Jimmy Woodrow, Chief Executive of Pasture for Life, encourages the public to look for Pasture for Life certified products, as the generic 'grass-fed' term in the UK only requires 51% of the livestock diet to be grass, and seeks to support this vision by demanding more questions about the proportion of grass and forage in livestock diets.
- The report's nuanced perspective, produced by a food sustainability-focused organization, supports a more resilient and sustainable UK food system by integrating livestock into holistic land management, rather than eliminating livestock wholesale, guiding policy, farming practice, and public discourse towards a balanced, ecologically informed approach to sustainable livestock farming in the UK.
