Climate Cattle

Bibliographic Data

ID3914296
AuthorsA Searle (0000-0002-5319-895X, University of Nottingham), J Turnbull (0000-0002-2430-9884, University of Oxford), Catherine Oliver (0000-0002-5332-0468, Lancaster University)
Year2024
Volume16
Issue3
Pages784-806
Publication date2024-11-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEnvironmental Humanities (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2201-1919 • E-ISSN: 2201-1919
PublisherDuke University Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1215/22011919-11327348
OpenAlexW4404708960
LanguageEN
Citations received14
References cited85

Scientific measurement and prediction tools have highlighted the significant greenhouse gas contributions of farmed animals, particularly dairy and meat cows. Emergent analysis and associated political discourse have refigured narratives of blame for the contemporary climate crisis, influencing international policy and inspiring a range of technological and economic fixes to construct "climate cattle" as keystone species for a "good Anthropocene." Interventions are centered on bovine metabolisms at different spatial and temporal scales; they include the use of feed supplements that inhibit methane production in bovine rumens during digestion, and selective breeding or genetic engineering for the breeding of future-ready low-methane cows. In these bovine "technofix" solutions, the global scale is invoked to drive metabolic interventions at multiple smaller scales including individual cows, their microbiomes, and their genomes. Research, however, suggests that these interventions do not neatly scale back up as invoked by those deploying them for climate-related ends. Rather, the global scale functions discursively to incentivize bovine metabolic intervention, influence agricultural policies, and draw investment into ecomodernist visions of "good cows for a good Anthropocene." Through examining how cows figure as both problems and solutions through metabolic interventions, this article traces the importance of, and issues with, scale in contemporary environmental governance

Climatology · Agriculture Sustainability and Environmental Impact · Climate Change and Health Impacts · Effects of Environmental Stressors on Livestock · Environmental Science · Geology

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Open DOIOpen Access