Most of us are familiar with beef, and regardless of our personal beliefs on it the question asked is “What is the beef?” It is everywhere today, and the demand for it is higher than ever. In fact, the markets have been under stress for about 30 years to meet the markets increasing demand. With so many modern diets reliant on the cattle and livestock industry, it has undoubtedly staked itself in the world. Not only in the diet, but also in the global economy and environment as well. With global command for beef at all-time highs, humans are beginning to explore the crossroads of carefully sustaining the demand for livestock safely into the future.

In 1999, the Livestock Mandatory Reporting act was passed by the US Congress. This new act required the USDA to request and receive tracking of livestock from different farms that slaughtered at least 125,000 livestock annually. These reports are done twice daily and consist of information such as: quality and quantity of livestock, value, breed of livestock, and various other forms of data. In addition, the farms must submit a weekly report as well as an annual report with similar information.

Every five years, this act is reviewed by congress, and edited if deemed necessary. Ultimately, the overall goal of creating the LMR act was to help keep transparency on farms that were operating with huge quantities, and to also help keep the market more open for trade. Initially, the livestock would be traded for an agreed price on the market, referred to sometimes as a “spot” price. Over time, as the demand increased, so too did the operating costs to own and operate a farm. As a result, a newer price system known as a formula price (or slide scale pay formula) has been adopted more commonly. This system works based off of an estimate in the beginning of the deal and then adjusted to agreed terms upon arrival of livestock. Even with this new formula in place, there still seems to be a general concern with the speed of time between the initial payment and actual time of the delivered livestock. This pricing system, and massive increase in demand has begun leading to large scale practices of factory farming. These practices have begun to try and alleviate costs, and also meet the command for the worlds endless market demand.

The modernization of factory farming and uptick in world population, combined with a demand to consume livestock has begun showing signs of exhaustion in the world. As more farms are established to sustain the volume, more trees get cut down to provide land for the cattle to live. This deforestation has also led to increases of disease for humans and livestock. Factory farming can often times be unsanitary for the animals, and this too has resulted in some viruses being transferred into humanity. Outside of deforestation, there are extraordinary amounts of natural water required to maintain these animals. Nearly 92% of the world’s fresh water is used for the farming of livestock and grains or feed fields. A single pound of cattle for instance, uses around 2,500 gallons of water to produce, if this cow is a Holstein (one who produces milk) she would need another 1000 gallons to produce a gallon of milk. The Holstein’s will also sometimes need to receive genetic modifiers to help produce milk during mourning, as her calves are often seized from her at birth. Furthermore, all of these animals eat and digest the food they eat and this is a vast issue because their feces contain methane. To put it into context, roughly half of the world’s greenhouse emissions come from livestock farming. Whether it be from the deforestation, the use of water, the use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers for crops, or the excrement of the livestock, factory farming has a massive influence on today’s world as well as tomorrow’s world.

One of the great alternatives for helping this industry evolve is blockchain. The Livestock Mandatory Reporting act was essentially intended to act as a transparent system. LMR sends massive volumes of information in a network that is not entirely transparent. This network benefits the LMR and the farms involved, but the average consumer has little awareness of these reports. With the emergence of blockchain technology, a few companies have sought to modernize this initial ideology. The company OriginTrail for example, has developed an app capable of reaching the common smart phone. This app uses a QR scanner to scan product codes, that will then track that products whole “life cycle” to your phone. Having this information enables the user to see full transparency, and make an informed financial decision. Not only do the individuals stay informed, but they may also feel more connected with the producers as well. Having this technology available in the markets can greatly influence how products are produced and shipped across the world. To go a step further, blockchains offer a process like LMR to become more transparent to the consumers. Blockchains are operated by trusted computer nodes which increase the overall trust of the system, as well as, the speed of every transaction. Ultimately, the blockchains can impact the livestock market substantially as more companies and farms begin using this kind of technology.

Livestock farming has made its impact on the world, and its existence will be branded for years to come. It is worthy to highlight some of the perils of this anthropological tradition. The science suggests that it is an unsustainable practice in the present and for the future. As the world’s population increases at record rates, so too does the demand for livestock in many common modern diets. The best way to help alleviate the risks of endangerment is to become proactive. If the amount of natural resources it takes to consume a portion of livestock was known more consciously, then it may be less difficult to promote real awareness for variation. Tomorrow is a result of the consequences of today, and the consequences of ongoing factory farming are far superior than the significances of accepting more maintainable habits and knowledge. All changes start by acknowledging that there is a problem, or that something is wrong. The solution comes when accepting the actions required to right the wrong are achieved. The next question to be asked in this case is: “What is the beef?”

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