Growth-enhancing technologies: a strategy to reduce the environmental footprint of Canadian beef production
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Date
2022
Authors
Boonstra, Emily
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Abstract
An examination of the relationship between growth-enhancing technologies (GET’s) and the environmental footprint of beef production systems revealed that cattle backgrounded and finished with GET’s had 3 to 7% lower GHG emissions (kg CO₂e kg boneless beef⁻¹) and 3 to 8% lower NH₃ emissions (kg NH₃ kg boneless beef⁻¹). In addition, GET-treated cattle required 5 to 11% less land (ha kg boneless beef⁻¹) and 6 to 12% less water (m³ H₂O kg boneless beef⁻¹) compared to GET-free cattle. These environmental impacts, along with economic viability and consumer preference and acceptance, must be assessed in a whole-system approach to determine the long-term sustainability of GET-free production in Canadian beef production.
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Keywords
Agriculture, Animal Science, Beef production, Environmental modeling, GHG emissions, Water use, Land use, Ammonia emissions