U.S. Beef Cattle Production Becoming More Sustainable

Aug 19, 2013

U.S. Beef Cattle Production Becoming More Sustainable

By Amanda Brodhagen, Farms.com

A new assessment reveals that the sustainability of U.S. beef production has improved significantly from 2005 to 2011.

The findings were released at a Cattle Industry Summer Conference held in Denver, Colo., earlier this month. The assessment was check-off-funded, which looked at the social, economic and environmental impacts of producing beef in the United States.

Inputs and outputs related to producing a pound of beef were examined. The findings suggest that the beef industry is becoming more innovative and efficient. The completed life cycle assessment (LCA) took into consideration the entire value chain of production. Additionally, the assessment sought out historical data from the 1970s, 2005 and 20011 when determining overall sustainability improvement.

Key findings from 2005-2011:

•Environmental impacts reduced by 7%;
•Sustainability has improved by 5%;
•Greenhouse gas emissions reduced by 2%;
•Water emissions reduced by 10%;
•Water usage decreased by 3%;
•Reduced resource consumption by 2%

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This material is based upon work that is supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under agreement number 2023-38640-39573 through the North Central Region SARE program under project number ENC23-226. USDA is an equal opportunity employer and service provider. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and should not be construed to represent any official USDA or U.S. Government determination or policy.