by Leeann Minogue
Canadian consumers are looking for food that’s healthy, tasty, and good for the future of our planet. But sometimes it’s hard to be sure which food choices are sustainable.
This is especially true when it comes to Canadian beef. We’ve heard that raising cattle is not good for the environment, and that plant-based diets are a more sustainable option. But there’s another angle to the story. In Canada, cattle are part of the prairie grasslands ecosystem, helping keep our native grasslands intact. Without cattle and the ranchers who raise them, we would be in danger of losing more of our native grasslands.
Canada’s grasslands ecosystem
While the mountains and the ocean may get more attention, our prairie grasslands are not only breathtakingly beautiful, they’re an important part of our natural heritage and environment. The native plants that are a central part of the grasslands have long, dense roots, sometimes as deep as 20 feet (6 m) underground. These roots allow the plants to survive fires and also act as carbon sinks, sequestering carbon under the soil surface.
This ecosystem was built up slowly, over thousands of years. At one time, Canada had 141.5 million acres of prairie grassland.1 As Canada was settled, grasslands were plowed for farming, paved for roads, and built over for urban settlements. Today, there are only 26 million acres 2 of native grasslands left. Once grassland area has been disturbed, it can’t be brought back to its natural state. The unique combination of deep-rooted natural prairie grasses and the plant and animal species that live there cannot be rebuilt.
Although less than 20% of our grasslands remain, our prairie ecosystem still provides many benefits. Grasslands are home to a diverse range of plant and animal species – 60 of which are “at risk” species. Grasslands limit flooding and soil erosion. Researchers estimate our prairie grasslands are storing 1.5 billion tonnes of carbon. It is crucial that we preserve and protect these areas.
The key species
The grasslands ecosystem originally developed with bison as the keynote species. A keynote species is one that plays a critical role in an ecosystem – a species that would be most missed if it wasn’t there. Bison made their contribution by grazing, spending nine to 11 hours every day eating grasses and other plants. 3
If grasses aren’t removed each year, it’s hard for new grass shoots to emerge through the dead plant mass next spring. When multiple years of old-growth grass build up, it’s easy for wildfires to spread. Grazing bison kept the prairies clean. By eating the tallest grasses, bison gave other plants a chance to access sunlight. And while they were grazing, bison converted grass into fertilizer, as well as compacting deep layers of soil and aerating the top layer.
Ranchers and cattle
Bison herds haven’t roamed the prairies since the late 1800s, now cattle have stepped in to become the keynote species in today’s grassland ecosystem. When they’re looking after their cattle, beef ranchers and farmers are also looking after the grasslands. Erika Stewart is one of these caretakers. Stewart and her family raise cattle near Morse, Saskatchewan, on a ranch made up mainly of native prairie.
“Cows can provide huge benefits to soil health and productive, diverse grasslands. Cows can naturally fertilize the ground, and grazing can have a positive impact on plant growth,” Stewart says. “Also, by taking a bite of grass at the right time, cows can stimulate healthy growth from that plant.”
Taking care of the land and the soil is as important to cattle producers as taking care of their animals. “We’re continually trying to increase our knowledge and improve production practises to ensure we’re maintaining and improving a healthy grassland ecosystem,” Stewart says. “Without healthy soil, grass, and water, we cannot sustain our operation.”
A world without cows?
It is sometimes assumed that if Canadians stopped raising cattle, we could use grazing land to grow more plants for human consumption – crops like wheat or lentils. This is not true in most of Canada’s grasslands. Erika Stewart’s ranch is in Saskatchewan’s Coteau Hills. “This land is very hilly and not suitable for crop production,” Stewart explains. Removing cattle from the Stewart’s ranch would not mean replacing beef with something else. Instead, it would leave the grasslands empty, without its keynote species to keep the grass healthy.
Canada’s beef producers make the grasslands productive, Stewart says, “by harnessing cattle’s superpower of turning plant material that is otherwise unusable for human consumption into a high-quality protein source.”
The future of the grasslands
Canada’s prairie grasslands are delicate. But the ecosystem is in good hands. “We’re very passionate about our role as ranchers in helping preserve grasslands. We take the responsibly seriously,” Stewart says.
Canada’s cattle producers learn continuously and keep their production practices up to date. These people are in it for the long haul. “Our goal,” Stewart says, “is to continue to graze cattle on the native prairie grasslands for generations to come and hopefully pass our ranch onto our daughters in improved condition.”
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