TY - JOUR
T1 - A model for 'sustainable' US beef production
AU - Eshel, Gidon
AU - Shepon, Alon
AU - Shaket, Taga
AU - Cotler, Brett D.
AU - Gilutz, Stav
AU - Giddings, Daniel
AU - Raymo, Maureen E.
AU - Milo, Ron
N1 - Funding Information:
R.M. and E.S. are supported by the European Research Council (project NOVCARBFIX 646827); the Israel Science Foundation (grant no. 740/16); Beck-Canadian Center for Alternative Energy Research; Dana and Yossie Hollander; R.M. holds the Charles and Louise Gartner professional chair.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 The Author(s).
PY - 2018/1/1
Y1 - 2018/1/1
N2 - Food production dominates land, water and fertilizer use and is a greenhouse gas source. In the United States, beef production is the main agricultural resource user overall, as well as per kcal or g of protein. Here, we offer a possible, non-unique, definition of 'sustainable' beef as that subsisting exclusively on grass and by-products, and quantify its expected US production as a function of pastureland use. Assuming today's pastureland characteristics, all of the pastureland that US beef currently use can sustainably deliver ≈45% of current production. Rewilding this pastureland's less productive half (≈135 million ha) can still deliver ≈43% of current beef production. In all considered scenarios, the ≈32 million ha of high-quality cropland that beef currently use are reallocated for plant-based food production. These plant items deliver 2- to 20-fold more calories and protein than the replaced beef and increase the delivery of protective nutrients, but deliver no B12. Increased deployment of rapid rotational grazing or grassland multi-purposing may increase beef production capacity.
AB - Food production dominates land, water and fertilizer use and is a greenhouse gas source. In the United States, beef production is the main agricultural resource user overall, as well as per kcal or g of protein. Here, we offer a possible, non-unique, definition of 'sustainable' beef as that subsisting exclusively on grass and by-products, and quantify its expected US production as a function of pastureland use. Assuming today's pastureland characteristics, all of the pastureland that US beef currently use can sustainably deliver ≈45% of current production. Rewilding this pastureland's less productive half (≈135 million ha) can still deliver ≈43% of current beef production. In all considered scenarios, the ≈32 million ha of high-quality cropland that beef currently use are reallocated for plant-based food production. These plant items deliver 2- to 20-fold more calories and protein than the replaced beef and increase the delivery of protective nutrients, but deliver no B12. Increased deployment of rapid rotational grazing or grassland multi-purposing may increase beef production capacity.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85036536278&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/s41559-017-0390-5
DO - 10.1038/s41559-017-0390-5
M3 - Article
C2 - 29203916
AN - SCOPUS:85036536278
VL - 2
SP - 81
EP - 85
JO - Nature Ecology and Evolution
JF - Nature Ecology and Evolution
SN - 2397-334X
IS - 1
ER -
