057 | Feeding 8 Billion People with Dr. Holder & Alltech
Listen to this week’s Discover Ag episode: Feeding 8 Billion People with Natalie Kovarik and Tara Vander Dussen now available on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher | Google Podcasts | iHeart Radio
On Discover Ag, hosts Natalie Kovarik and Tara Vander Dussen share relevant and captivating conversations in Agriculture so you can better understand the food system, and connect with the hands that feed us.
Every Thursday they highlight Agriculture in a modern and fun way, giving their professional farming opinions on a mix of entertainment, facts, and trending news articles. Discover Ag has been described as a Mike Rowe/The Way I Heard It meets Claudia Oshry/Morning Toast and Natalie and Tara are very much on board with that analogy. Tune in every week, so you can Discover Ag!
On this week’s show, Nat and Tara are chatting about Feeding 8 Billion People with Dr. Holder and Alltech and covering topics such as,
How emissions aren’t the only factor in building a sustainable agricultural system
Food insecurity and managing limited resources
How cattle production is crucial to the global food system
About Dr. Vaughn Holder & Alltech
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How is the World Going to Support 8 Billion People?
This week Natalie and Tara have an exclusive bonus episode for you as they welcome Dr. Vaugn Holder, who works for Alltech. This is going to be an extremely powerful episode as they dig into a multitude of different topics including how to improve our global food systems, the importance of global cattle production and so much more.
To kick off the conversation, Tara makes the statement that when looking at improving the food system as a whole, it’s much more complicated than just taking away cattle to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Dr. Holder goes on to discuss that a lot of the land that cattle graze isn’t good for any other type of agriculture. In addition, he doesn’t believe that eliminating cattle production will not only, not reduce emissions, but in fact, raise emissions.
How Cattle are the Ultimate Recycler
Did you know that ruminants are the only creature that increases the number of nutrients based on what they consume? They are able to take foods that humans can’t eat, or are low in nutrients and turn them into something that is nutrient-dense. Tara chimes with the fact that it isn’t just about getting the world more calories. Where in fact, the world needs more nutrient-dense foods rather than calorie-dense food. The conversation, in Dr. Holder’s opinion, needs to be changed from talking about how to make things better to what the consequences are for something like removing cattle production.
Byproducts and Livestock
Natalie shifts the conversation to chat about byproducts and livestock and the value it provides. As mentioned above, Dr. Holder really believes that if we remove cattle production, greenhouse gases will increase. He goes on to say that according to the FAO 86% of the feed that is fed to livestock globally is inedible by humans. The question comes up about what would happen if there weren’t animals to consume and digest that organic material in feed. Dr. Holder goes on to say that a study was done with a dairy cow on how much greenhouse gases were released from the same byproduct that they were fed versus what would happen to that byproduct if it was composted. The results? The byproduct will release 5x more greenhouse gases from composting rather than being digested through the cow.
In addition to greenhouse gases with byproducts, economics was also brought up in this discussion so make sure to tune in for the rest of this conversation.
Agriculture has the Greatest Potential to Shape Our Planet Moving Forward
As we mark the halfway point in the conversation, the conversation pivots to how agriculture is crucial to not only our economy but also the globe. Tara mentions that there are many blanket statements coming out from businesses claiming they are “carbon neutral”. Wherein Dr. Holder mentions that we don’t have enough data to know for sure how many of the products or companies actually are or are not carbon neutral.
Transitioning the conversation to chat about the article that brought this episode together, it’s time to talk about how we are going to be feeding all 8 billion people that are now on our planet. At its core, unless something changes in our food system, we won’t be able to match the growing population. Dr. Holder mentions that we will have to upgrade our food systems in order to meet the new demand. This episode doesn’t stop here, so make sure to tune in to catch the full conversation!
About Dr. Holder & Alltech
Dr. Vaughn Holder received his bachelor’s degree in animal science from the University of Pretoria in 2004. In 2005, he completed a research internship at Alltech’s North American Bioscience Center in Nicholasville, Kentucky, where his research focused on the effects of various yeast culture strains on the growth of select rumen microorganisms in vitro. In 2007, Holder received his master’s degree in ruminant nutrition and microbiology from the University of Pretoria. He then returned to the U.S. for his Ph.D. in ruminant nutrition, which he received from the University of Kentucky in 2012.
In August 2012, Holder joined Alltech in a postdoctoral traineeship position with a focus on advanced technical support in ruminant protein nutrition. In October 2013, Holder was transferred to Alltech’s South African offices in Stellenbosch as national research and technical director. In 2015, Holder returned to Alltech’s research headquarters in Nicholasville, where he now heads global nutritional research in beef species.
From the Alltech website,
“Alltech aims to improve the health and performance of people, animals, and plants through nutrition and scientific innovation. They pursue this mission guided by what is called the ACE principle, a promise that in doing business, they have a positive impact on the Animal, the Consumer, and the Environment.”
