“…the industry still sees this natural resource as something abundant and cheap. And what is abundant and cheap does not have much value for human beings…”
Julio Palhares is a researcher at Embrapa, focused on water and waste management in animal production. Palhares is a zootechnician with a M.Sc. from Unesp and a Ph.D. from USP.
Julio Palhares, researcher at Embrapa
AgriBrasilis – What are the environmental impacts of milk and beef production?
Julio Palhares – The impacts are multiple, not restricted to natural resources, such as water, soil and air.
Brazilian legislation, through CONAMA (National Council for the Environment) Resolution No. 1, of 01/23/1986, defines environmental impact as any change in the physical, chemical and biological properties of the environment, caused by any form of matter or energy resulting from human activities that, directly or indirectly, affect:
I – The health, safety and well-being of the population;
II – Social and economic activities;
III – The environment;
IV – The aesthetic and sanitary conditions of the environment;
V – The quality of environmental resources.
It is clear that carrying out an environmental impact evaluation is not a simple process and must be carried out by a group of professionals who have knowledge in agricultural, economic, social and environmental sciences.
AgriBrasilis – How important are the reference values for water consumption of lactating cows and milking washing?
Julio Palhares – The reference values enable dairy sector stakeholders to:
- Conduct a water assessment on farms;
- Implement good water practice programs;
- Propose environmental certifications that include water as an asset;
- Demonstrate to consumers and to society the water responsibility of Brazilian dairy farming.
“The best waste management practices are those proposed according to the productive, environmental, economic and social characteristics of the production unit”
AgriBrasilis – How to manage water consumption on a dairy farm in a sustainable way?
Julio Palhares – First, we must internalize water management on the farms, defined here as: daily use of knowledge, practices and technologies that guarantee the supply of water in quantity and quality. It is also important to have as a routine the updating and technical training of all those involved in cattle breeding and to promote training to increase the levels of information and knowledge regarding the importance of water for the development of the activity.
AgriBrasilis – How is waste management carried out?
Julio Palhares – There is no single way to carry out this management. The best waste management practices are those proposed according to the productive, environmental, economic and social characteristics of the production unit. Ready-made formulas tend to fail and result in the frustration of farmers and unnecessary expenditure of time and money.
A premise for any type of waste management is that the waste generated from the activity must cause minimum environmental impact. How this will be achieved is a technical and financial choice of the farmers.
AgriBrasilis – What are the differences between blue, green and gray water “footprints”?
Julio Palhares – These colors are part of the water footprint concept, which has as one of its objectives to measure the efficiency of water use of a product, expressed in liters of water per kg of meat or milk.
Green water – water evaporated by the soil and transpired by plants in the production of vegetable crops (evapotranspiration process) and water incorporated into the vegetable product.
Blue water – surface and groundwater that after being consumed does not return to the same river basin.
Gray water – water consumed by nature to assimilate the pollutants of the productive activity. It can be from point and/or diffuse sources of pollution.
AgriBrasilis – Why are the prospects for water use in beef production not considered positive in Brazil?
Julio Palhares – Because the industry still sees this natural resource as something abundant and cheap. And what is abundant and cheap does not have much value for human beings.
Until the industry changes this culture, it will suffer from a lack of this resource in quantity and quality. This lack tends to intensify with the climate emergency we are experiencing. Of course, there are cattle ranchers conserving water on their properties, using the resource efficiently and avoiding water pollution, but they are exceptions and we do not advance in water management with exceptions.
Water management in production units must be the rule. Then we can say that we have a hydrologically correct beef cattle farming. We know that humans can learn in many ways, and one of them is through pain. In this case, the pain of not having water to give to the animals or for other uses on the farms. We should not follow the path of pain. There is a better path, which is science. The path of science already has information, knowledge and practices to support the correct use of water.
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