Beef producers need to address climate change and treating bobby calves as a byproduct, says Andrew Brazier, McDonald’s global supply chain director.
Speaking to Farmers Weekly at McDonald’s Chicago headquarters this week, he said New Zealand farmers rate highly for addressing the four key issues in consumer surveys: deforestation, animal health and welfare, antibiotic use and climate change.
But that does not excuse NZ farmers from taking action.
Brazier said the slaughtering of bobby calves hasn’t yet emerged as a public issue, but could. Meanwhile, consumers consider agriculture, specifically beef production, a significant contributor to climate change.
Brazier said McDonald’s has been looking at the sustainability practices of its suppliers for 10 years and, like the food industry in general, needs them to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions footprint.
“We want customers to feel good about the food they eat.
“If we do not address it, it may not hurt us today, but it could in the future,” Brazier said.
McDonald’s is not threatening to take its NZ business elsewhere, but Brazier said consumers’ concerns are growing faster than many realise.
And beef production powerhouses like Brazil are making significant strides in addressing those issues.
Up until 2015, McDonald’s did not buy any beef from the Amazon biome due to deforestation concerns.
Brazier said not all farmers in that region were responsible for the deforestation. In return for supplying McDonald’s, farmers provide whole-of-life traceability data for stock and satellite verification of their land to prove they have not been cutting down the rain forest.
He said solutions for NZ farmers are equally complicated.
Between when a calf is born and McDonald’s takes delivery of ground beef, there have been four to five transactions.
The fast-food giant wants to help farmers address these challenges, and globally has more than 200 pilot programmes in proof-of-concept stage that may assist climate change and animal welfare issues.
Before joining McDonald’s, Brazier ran his family’s Australian beef farm, where he hunted for ways to make their beef operation more profitable.
Every day McDonald’s serves close to 70 million meals globally, and as a percentage of all beef produced by a country, the volume it buys from NZ is the most of any country.
Brazier describes it as “double digit” volumes.
He said a solution to the bobby calf issue could be developing a dairy-beef cross over part of a herd to produce milk and grow animals for the beef industry.
“It’s a resource opportunity to be able to grow out an animal with desirable carcase traits that allows McDonald’s to take their part of the carcase but to also produce prime cuts.”
Andrew Brazier, the global supply chain director for McDonald’s, says New Zealand beef producers rate highly but still need to act on climate change and bobby calves. Photo: Neal Wallace
The way greenhouse gas emissions are calculated, Brazier said dual-purpose animals have a lower footprint, so that would provide another benefit.
McDonald’s is open to paying more for product from farmers who reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, and while solutions are complex, he said technology is evolving fast.
“McDonald’s is trying to figure out how to support, financially or otherwise, farmers implementing changes to reduce their carbon footprint.”
Challenges include rewarding a farmer who has a consistently low emissions footprint relative to someone who has only started taking action, and acknowledging the contribution of owners of livestock between the breeder and finisher.
This is likely to require farmers to share data and information to provide verification and to quantify their contribution.
“We need to know from a credibility perspective and avoid accusations of greenwashing,” he said.
Another issue is ensuring farmers financially benefit from the carbon sequestration they achieve.
The first stage is for farmers to calculate their baseline emissions, and he urges farmers to do that.
Environmental and animal welfare issues are real for young people.
Research shows that between the ages of 16 and 25, people develop lifelong eating habits.
If a 16-year-old is told a plant-based patty tastes the same as a beef patty but does not have the issues of animal welfare and emissions footprint, they will believe it and it will be difficult to convert them to eat real meat.
Brazier said the industry needs to collectively find solutions.
“I don’t want to come at it as a McDonald’s solution.”
Failure to act sooner rather than later will result in governments legislating action.
More: Wallace is visiting seven countries in six weeks to report on market sentiment, a trip made possible with grants from Fonterra, Silver Fern Farms, Alliance, Beef + Lamb NZ, NZ Meat Industry Association and Rabobank. Read more about his findings here.
