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Environmental impact of beef production in Mexico through life cycle assessment

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  • Huerta, Adriana Rivera
  • Güereca, Leonor Patricia
  • Lozano, María de la Salud Rubio

Abstract

Intensive and extensive systems of beef production in the Mexican tropics were analyzed. The aim of the study was to estimate and compare the environmental impact of two typical beef production systems in Veracruz, Mexico. A system boundary was established from farm production to prior to transport for consumer consumption, including intermediate stages of product processing, marketing and transportation. The functional unit was 1kg of boneless and fatless beef. The life cycle inventory was built using information from case studies; farmers, slaughterhouses and retail point managers who provided information from records and expert knowledge were interviewed. The study included cow-calf processes, pre-fattening, fattening, processing and retail. Several impact categories were analyzed using SimaPro software and the ReCiPe Midpoint method for impact characterization. The results showed that for the extensive system, the cow-calf stage is the major contributor in eleven of the twelve impact categories analyzed, while in the intensive system, it is the main contributor to the climate change, terrestrial acidification, freshwater and marine eutrophication. The fattening stage of intensive system, has a predominant impact on human toxicity, water depletion, terrestrial ecotoxicity, fossil depletion, photo-oxidants formation, freshwater ecotoxicity and marine ecotoxicity; the processing stage has relevant contributions to fossil fuel depletion and the formation of photochemical oxidants in intensive systems. Finally, the marketing stage did not have a predominant impact on any category. The results indicated that the extensive system has better environmental performance than the intensive system for nine of the twelve studied categories. According last, it is important to improve the reproductive performance in calf breeding herds to mitigate emissions in the beef production chain as well as to improve livestock food quality in the extensive system for the mitigation of GHG emissions due to enteric fermentation.

Suggested Citation

  • Huerta, Adriana Rivera & Güereca, Leonor Patricia & Lozano, María de la Salud Rubio, 2016. "Environmental impact of beef production in Mexico through life cycle assessment," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 44-53.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:recore:v:109:y:2016:i:c:p:44-53
    DOI: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2016.01.020
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Beauchemin, Karen A. & Henry Janzen, H. & Little, Shannan M. & McAllister, Tim A. & McGinn, Sean M., 2010. "Life cycle assessment of greenhouse gas emissions from beef production in western Canada: A case study," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 103(6), pages 371-379, July.
    2. Pelletier, Nathan & Pirog, Rich & Rasmussen, Rebecca, 2010. "Comparative life cycle environmental impacts of three beef production strategies in the Upper Midwestern United States," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 103(6), pages 380-389, July.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Dumas, Patrice & Wirsenius, Stefan & Searchinger, Tim & Andrieu, Nadine & Vogt-Schilb, Adrien, 2022. "Options to achieve net-zero emissions from agriculture and land use changes in Latin America and the Caribbean," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 12385, Inter-American Development Bank.
    3. Shaoran Geng & Kevin Christopher Dorling & Tobias Manuel Prenzel & Stefan Albrecht, 2024. "Grill and Chill: A Comprehensive Analysis of the Environmental Impacts of Private Household Barbecuing in Germany," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(3), pages 1-27, January.

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