A leading U.S. beef industry trade association knew by 1989 that cattle contributed to global warming but focused its response on protecting consumer demand through public relations, according to a new study examining a decade of industry records.
Researchers at the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science analyzed internal documents, media coverage and government reports to trace how the National Cattlemen's Association responded to emerging scientific evidence about methane emissions from 1986 to 1996. They found that the association questioned global warming, downplayed beef production's contribution and challenged campaigns encouraging consumers to eat less beef.
The study, published Oct. 7, 2026, in the journal PLOS Climate, was authored by Jennifer Jacquet, a professor in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy at the Rosenstiel School and the Leonard and Jayne Abess Center for Ecosystem Science and Policy, and Loredana Loy, a postdoctoral researcher the Rosenstiel School.
The researchers say the records reveal an early strategy to influence public understanding of livestock's role in climate change.
"The records show that the trade association understood the issue and knew that options to reduce methane emissions existed," said Jacquet. "Its response focused on shaping what people heard about beef and global warming and countering the idea that eating less beef could help."
At the time, methane was drawing growing scientific attention as a heat-trapping gas produced by cattle during digestion and released through manure management. In the mid-1980s, studies increasingly identified livestock as a source of methane, broadening discussions of responsibility for global warming beyond fossil fuels.
In February 1989, an association representative attended a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency workshop that examined livestock methane emissions and ways to reduce them. The resulting report identified potential changes to feeding practices, feed additives and manure management.
Later that year, the association developed an environmental strategic plan that included countering criticism of the cattle industry, commissioning papers from scientific and technical experts, and promoting a positive environmental image.
Jacquet and Loy documented several communications strategies, including monitoring environmental groups and news coverage, hiring academic experts to produce reports and serve as spokespeople, distributing talking points that minimized cattle's contribution to global warming, and challenging the credibility of advocates promoting dietary change.
One widely circulated industry-sponsored estimate put U.S. beef cattle's contribution at just 0.5% of global methane emissions. The researchers found that the figure was difficult to reproduce and used data to make the U.S. cattle's contribution appear small by measuring it against worldwide emissions from both human activities and natural sources.
The trade association also promoted cattle producers as environmental stewards through advertisements and outreach materials. For Earth Day in 1990, it spent $100,000 on full-page newspaper advertisements that reached an estimated 20 million people, according to records reviewed in the study.
Although some commissioned reports mentioned ways to reduce methane through changes in feeding, the researchers found no evidence in the association's own materials that it researched or promoted practices to address emissions.
The authors caution that the archive does not contain all internal records. Their findings also do not establish whether individual ranchers or companies independently pursued emissions reductions.
"This history expands our understanding of how industries responded to early climate science," Jacquet said. "The trade association's main concern was the possibility that consumers would change what they ate. That helps explain why its response centered on public messaging."
The study provides a historical account of how an influential industry group shaped public discussion of food production and global warming. It documents communications strategies similar to those identified in research on fossil fuel interests, while highlighting a distinct focus on opposing voluntary changes in consumer diets.
For the analysis, the researchers collected 154 internal organizational documents from the American Heritage Center at the University of Wyoming, including 123 dated between 1986 and 1996. They supplemented those records with another archival document, news coverage and government and other reports. The period ends with the association's transition into the National Cattlemen's Beef Association in 1996.
The study, titled "Global warming and the National Cattlemen's Association 1986-1996," was published on October 7, 2026, in the journal PLOS Climate. The authors are Jennifer Jacquet and Loredana Loy of the Rosenstiel School and Abess Center for Ecosystem Science and Policy.
The research was supported by University of Miami startup funds provided to Jacquet.
