The Welsh Way:
Towards Global Leadership in Sustainable
Lamb and Beef Production

Wales is a global exemplar…
In Wales, beef and lamb is raised
overwhelmingly through non-intensive farming
which relies on abundant grass and rainfall
rather than energy-intensive imported feed
– making Wales one of the most sustainable
places on Earth to produce red meat.

Red meat farmed in Wales is alreadysignificantly more sustainable than
the global average

10-13kg
CO2e/kg**Among the lowest ininternational studies• Thanks to sustainable methods, cattle and sheep farming in Walesemit fewer greenhouse gases than in many other parts of the world.
• It uses non-intensive farming techniques, grass and rainwater to rear
animals in pasture-based farming systems which place vastly lesspressure on natural resources.
• Soils represent a hugely important store of carbon. Given that theoverwhelming proportion of land in Wales is managed for agriculturalpurposes, this puts the sector in a really important position: soils could
be a notable sink of carbon, depending how they’re managed.

11-16kg
CO2e/kg*• Welsh farming is already making a positive contribution. For example,
there’s been an increase in the number of farms in Wales generating
renewable energy.

…and there’s more we can do• Optimising animal health and welfare is one of the simplest andmost effective ways to maximising the efficiency and the outputs
from Welsh flocks and herds, while correct and targeted nutrition
can help ensure there is less waste and less associated emissions.
• Effective breeding can also bring environmental benefits, reducing
greenhouse gas emissions by improving both growth rates and feedconversion efficiency.
• When a range of on-farm measures are combined, Welsh farms could
potentially deliver an emissions reduction of 20.4% for the sheep
sector and 11.6% for the beef sector. This would see Welsh agriculture
emissions reduce by around 7.5%, whilst the total volume of prime
lamb and prime beef output would remain constant.

*Compared to 37kg
CO2e/kg meat globally

18%

Number of farms in
Wales generating
renewable energy has
increased to 18%

81%81% of Wales’s farmland ispermanent grassland, and notsuitable for producing othertypes of food

The Welsh Way:
Towards Global Leadership in Sustainable Lamb and Beef Production

Two things you might not know about Welsh farming
1. Welsh farms create and protect habitats, ensuringbiodiversity and promoting good soil health• Livestock grazing in Wales has played a significant role in creating wildlife
habitats and the continuation of these grazing practices is essential for their
ongoing management.

Animal manures andgrasslands are the best
approach to return carbon
and therefore health to soil.
Rothamsted research• Ecosystems require variation in the structure and composition of the vegetationin order to complete their life cycles successfully – farming provides this.
• Research has shown that the grassland soils in the UK have a similar soilorganic carbon to clay ratio as forestry land in good soil health.

UK grasslands sequester
around 240 kg of carbon
per hectare per year. In
Wales that means around
318 million kg of carbon istaken out of the atmosphere
every year thanks to Welsh
farming.
Based on1.326m hectares –Welsh Government
figure2. Welsh farms already play a huge role in carbon capture• Agriculture and land management can offset carbon dioxide (CO2) in theatmosphere through sequestration, removing CO2 from the atmosphereand storing it in soil, wooded landscapes and semi-natural habitats, primarily
through photosynthesis.
• For grasslands which may have reached equilibrium, grazing management will playa vital role in maintaining these carbon stocks as the main terrestrial carbon store.
• Some farms in Wales may already be carbon neutral through activities
such as production of renewable energy and carbon sequestration.
• Changing permanent grass to forestry can have a negative impact in the shortterm, releasing around 2.25 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per hectare per year
from the soil. Instead we should be strategically increasing woodland cover byintegrating within existing farms systems.

What does all this mean for me?
• UK consumers can keep eating red meat: our average consumption is comparable tothat advised by the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (70g of red meat per day).
• Red meat also provides key nutrients as part of a balanced diet, including vitamins
A and B2, calcium, iodine, iron, magnesium, potassium and zinc. UK figures showthat young women in particular don’t consume enough of these.
• We shouldn’t just ‘offshore’ our emissions: supporting livestock production in Walesand GB avoids consumer demand for red meat being met by additional imports,
which would drive up global emissions by sourcing from countries
with less sustainable farming practices.

Buying Welsh Beef and Lambmeans supporting over
223,100 jobs and Wales’
biggest employer – the foodand drink supply chain –worth over £6 billion tothe Welsh economy.

• Buying Welsh Beef and Welsh Lamb means supporting world-leading sustainablesheep and beef farming.

The climate crisis we face is urgent in nature and global in scale – and there
is no doubt that some intensive farming systems are part of the problem.
The answer is not to stop eating red meat but to choose meat which has been
produced more sustainably.
Contact details: press@hybucig.cymru
Hybu Cig Cymru-Meat Promotion Wales Ty Rheidol, Parc Merlin, Aberystwyth, SY23 3FF Ffôn/Tel: 01970 625050