Before agriculture, didn't cows eat grass and grass alone? Cows eating grass is the way it was supposed to be, that's all you really need to know.

Half of what I need to know about this study, besides the methods used and how they arrived at their conclusions, is in this part of the article: "according to the study, which was published in Environmental Science and Technology, and funded by Meat and Livestock Australia."

Anyone who has watched Food Inc. can see what grain does to a cow, and it isn't good. As for the environment, all things produce carbon and I think it's bunk that we need to control that. (Also editted out snarky comment)

"Experts point out that eating vegetarian is far better from a carbon point of view."

I question the legitimacy of any article that makes that claim. Stripping the land to feed people, or stripping the land to feed animals its all going to kill the environment. Grass and the bi product of cows eating grass adds to the top soil.

Everything else tends to remove it.

the best is not just grassfed. the more ecological are old animal breeds which are less massive in their lifestyle. If you have a SUV under the cows it doesnt... Or actually today cows are more like a Hammer(big fuel eating car) under the cows, producing high milk in quick time it doesnt matter if just the food which the cow gets is grass. ITs also that the breed, the race of the cows is more naturally in his lifestyle.

So old breed from old days are hopefully more friendly.

To grain . i heard that it produces less Methan. The problem this is only simple thought. The production of grain and the transportation of grain also cost emisions. So far i understood when a cow eat grain it produces less gas. Additional the effect of producing the grains and transporting the grains and the grain fed meat is in the end much more environmetal polluting.

A thiord thing is that this studies fail in clear definition. and then i heard the meat of the old milk cows should be the environmetal friendliest. This are very simple calculations. In real life on longtimes its all more complex and dynamic. In nature you calculate with variable not just simple.

I think global warming is a natural cycle. It is a defense mechanism to burn off the fleas.

If the cows digest grain so much better, how well do they survive on grains without all the antibiotics and maintenance? Yeah, exactly, they die young. The guy's either an idiot or paid off.

When "global warming," "carbon footprint," etc., are brought into the discussion, I immediately lose interest. I was satisfied at the beginning that it was all a hoax and I have been proven correct. "Climate change," to use the more encompassing expression, is a natural progression. The climate has changed round and round, back and forth, since the creation of the planet.

However, cattle do digest grain easier, though the word "better" is a mistake. Grass is tough to digest even if one is designed for it. Grains are mostly carbohydrates so the stuff is easier to break down than cellulose, and the cattle gain weight much quicker on grain than on grass. The problem with cattle eating a mostly grain diet is they get sick and sick cattle do not grow. Did you know the cattle feeding industry is the largest consumer of baking soda? The cattle get heartburn, believe it or not, and the baking soda knocks it down, just as it does for us.

A point that I don't see, or either missed, is that yes, cattle do produce emissions. But what isn't mentioned is that in the natural state of things (thinking of the American Buffulo) of eating grass and then moving, eating grasses and then moving on helped develop such vast amounts of grasslands with highly developed root structures where carbon is stored. We've eliminated a great amount of grasslands and added to the overall carbon dioxide content of the atmosphere. Believe it or not, proper herding stores carbon (carbon farming) and even reverse desertification....I believe I've seen Melissa post a link several times on the issue involving proper herding techniques (mob grazing, holistic grazing...some of the terms I've read)