I'd like to see an actual study on this. Yeah decomposing grass releases methane, but in the wild does it release as much methane as it would being digested by a cow?
Lets say the carbon in the grass goes into the cow and X% goes through the cow's metabolism and is exhaled as CO2 or becomes part of the cow itself. Y% becomes a part of the cow's manure. Z% is released as methane into the air. The carbon of grass decomposing on the ground will turn some parts as methane into the air, but also some parts into the food chain of smaller creatures, some parts as CO2 into the air, and some parts into the soil itself. Cows and decomposing grass releasing the same amount of methane seems unlikely to me.
That's not to say I think we should eliminate cattle. Well managed grazing actually does amazing things for the health of soil, and can even fight desertification.
Lets say the carbon in the grass goes into the cow and X% goes through the cow's metabolism and is exhaled as CO2 or becomes part of the cow itself. Y% becomes a part of the cow's manure. Z% is released as methane into the air. The carbon of grass decomposing on the ground will turn some parts as methane into the air, but also some parts into the food chain of smaller creatures, some parts as CO2 into the air, and some parts into the soil itself. Cows and decomposing grass releasing the same amount of methane seems unlikely to me.
That's not to say I think we should eliminate cattle. Well managed grazing actually does amazing things for the health of soil, and can even fight desertification.