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Environmental footprints of beef cattle production in the United States

Author

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  • Rotz, C. Alan
  • Asem-Hiablie, Senorpe
  • Place, Sara
  • Thoma, Greg

Abstract

The environmental impacts of beef cattle production and their effects on the overall sustainability of beef have become a national and international concern. Our objective was to quantify important environmental impacts of beef cattle production in the United States. Surveys and visits of farms, ranches and feedlots were conducted throughout seven regions (Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, Northern Plains, Southern Plains, Northwest and Southwest) to determine common practices and characteristics of cattle production. These data along with other information sources were used to create about 150 representative production systems throughout the country, which were simulated with the Integrated Farm System Model using local soil and climate data. The simulations quantified the performance and environmental impacts of beef cattle production systems for each region. A farm-gate life cycle assessment was used to quantify resource use and emissions for all production systems including traditional beef breeds and cull animals from the dairy industry. Regional and national totals were determined as the sum of the production system outputs multiplied by the number of cattle represented by each simulated system. The average annual greenhouse gas and reactive N emissions associated with beef cattle production over the past five years were determined to be 243 ± 26 Tg carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e) and 1760 ± 136 Gg N, respectively. Total fossil energy use was found to be 569 ± 53 PJ and blue water consumption was 23.2 ± 3.5 TL. Environmental intensities expressed per kg of carcass weight produced were 21.3 ± 2.3 kg CO2e, 155 ± 12 g N, 50.0 ± 4.7 MJ, and 2034 ± 309 L, respectively. These farm-gate values are being combined with post farm-gate sources of packing, processing, distribution, retail, consumption and waste handling to produce a full life cycle assessment of U.S. beef. This study is the most detailed, yet comprehensive, study conducted to date to provide baseline measures for the sustainability of U.S. beef.

Suggested Citation

  • Rotz, C. Alan & Asem-Hiablie, Senorpe & Place, Sara & Thoma, Greg, 2019. "Environmental footprints of beef cattle production in the United States," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 1-13.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:agisys:v:169:y:2019:i:c:p:1-13
    DOI: 10.1016/j.agsy.2018.11.005
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    Cited by:

    1. Bonnin, Dennis & Tabacco, Ernesto & Borreani, Giorgio, 2021. "Variability of greenhouse gas emissions and economic performances on 10 Piedmontese beef farms in North Italy," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 194(C).
    2. Imran Hussain & Abdul Rehman, 2022. "How CO2 emission interacts with livestock production for environmental sustainability? evidence from Pakistan," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(6), pages 8545-8565, June.
    3. Cordeiro, M.R.C. & Mengistu, G.F. & Pogue, S.J. & Legesse, G. & Gunte, K.E. & Taylor, A.M. & Ominski, K.H. & Beauchemin, K.A. & McGeough, E.J. & Faramarzi, M. & McAllister, T.A., 2022. "Assessing feed security for beef production within livestock-intensive regions," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).
    4. Oliver Lazarus & Sonali McDermid & Jennifer Jacquet, 2021. "The climate responsibilities of industrial meat and dairy producers," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 165(1), pages 1-21, March.
    5. Batara Surya & Haeruddin Saleh & Hamsina Hamsina & Muhammad Idris & Despry Nur Annisa Ahmad, 2021. "Rural Agribusiness-Based Agropolitan Area Development and Environmental Management Sustainability: Regional Economic Growth Perspectives," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 11(1), pages 142-157.
    6. Kim, Daesoo & Stoddart, Nick & Rotz, C. Alan & Veltman, Karin & Chase, Larry & Cooper, Joyce & Ingraham, Pete & Izaurralde, R. César & Jones, Curtis D. & Gaillard, Richard & Aguirre-Villegas, Horacio , 2019. "Analysis of beneficial management practices to mitigate environmental impacts in dairy production systems around the Great Lakes," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    7. Emilio Sabia & Sarah Kühl & Laura Flach & Christian Lambertz & Matthias Gauly, 2020. "Effect of Feed Concentrate Intake on the Environmental Impact of Dairy Cows in an Alpine Mountain Region Including Soil Carbon Sequestration and Effect on Biodiversity," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-14, March.
    8. Silvia Grossi & Valentina Massa & Andrea Giorgino & Luciana Rossi & Matteo Dell’Anno & Luciano Pinotti & Filippo Avidano & Riccardo Compiani & Carlo Angelo Sgoifo Rossi, 2022. "Feeding Bakery Former Foodstuffs and Wheat Distiller’s as Partial Replacement for Corn and Soybean Enhances the Environmental Sustainability and Circularity of Beef Cattle Farming," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-15, April.
    9. Arrieta, Ezequiel M. & Cabrol, Diego A. & Cuchietti, Anibal & González, Alejandro D., 2020. "Biomass consumption and environmental footprints of beef cattle production in Argentina," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    10. Abhishek Chaudhary & Denis Tremorin, 2020. "Nutritional and Environmental Sustainability of Lentil Reformulated Beef Burger," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-18, August.
    11. Elio Romano & Rocco Roma & Flavio Tidona & Giorgio Giraffa & Andrea Bragaglio, 2021. "Dairy Farms and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA): The Allocation Criterion Useful to Estimate Undesirable Products," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-24, April.
    12. Ge, Houtian & Gomez, Miguel I. & Peters, Christian, 2023. "The environmental impacts and economic viability of grass-fed beef production in the Northeastern U.S," 2023 Annual Meeting, July 23-25, Washington D.C. 335742, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    13. Castaño-Sánchez, José P. & Rotz, C. Alan & McIntosh, Matthew M. & Tolle, Cindy & Gifford, Craig A. & Duff, Glenn C. & Spiegal, Sheri A., 2023. "Grass finishing of Criollo cattle can provide an environmentally preferred and cost effective meat supply chain from United States drylands," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 210(C).

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