A study shows Canada's beef industry in 2011 produced more beef with less breeding stock and land than in 1981.

The Beef Cattle Research Council (BCRC) says in this time frame, the industry also reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 15 per cent.

Manure and fuel use account for some of the methane and carbon dioxide emissions, but the study says 78 per cent of methane emissions come from the cow-calf sector, which consumes mostly a forage-based diet. But while the sector produces these emissions, University of Manitoba greenhouse gas specialist Kristine Tapley says it also has environmental benefits.

"It's all, of course, a balance because we know that grains produce less methane, so we could round up all our cows and feed them in a pen, concentrate diets, and bring down our methane production drastically, but then we lose benefits that come from grasslands, like carbon sequestration and habitat and biodiversity," Tapley says.

The study also showed the beef industry used 24 per cent less land, 27 per cent fewer slaughter cattle, and 29 per cent less breeding stock in 2011 than in 1981. The researchers attributed this to an increase in carcass weights, with slaughter steers becoming 29 per cent heavier and heifers 45 per cent heavier in this 30-year time frame.

One of the researchers on the project, Getahun Legesse, a research associate with the University of Manitoba's Department of Animal Sciences, says if the Canadian beef industry continues with advancements in science, it could likely continue to reduce its environmental footprint.

"Science is progressing and evolving," he says, "through improved management practices, through improvements in genetics, feed, animal health, I believe the coming decades will give us more improvements in the area of the environmental footprint of beef in Canada."