The role of livestock in sustainable food production systems in Canada

Global drivers such as the growing human population, evolving consumer preferences, globalization, and climate change have put pressure on the agri-food sector to produce more livestock products with less land, feed and water. Taste, nutritional value, cost, convenience, source, animal welfare and environmental sustainability of food are criteria upon which purchasing decisions are made. In response, an environmental footprint analysis composed of greenhouse gas emissions, nutrient and water use efficiency, water quality, carbon storage and biodiversity has been completed for many commodities. However, as livestock production systems occur within complex agro-ecosystems, it is extremely challenging to formulate a single overall sustainability metric. There is no “silver bullet” to solve the environmental concerns of all livestock production systems as they operate under different constraints on different landscapes, with different water and nutrient cycles, and soil types. Furthermore, the lack of scientific evidence regarding the interactions between livestock production, human nutritional adequacy and the health of our environment makes it difficult for consumers to interpret this information and make informed food choices. This review examines these complex interactions and trade-offs, as well as the potential impacts of changes in consumer dietary choice on environmental sustainability, nutritional adequacy and land use.

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Livestock production: recent trends, future prospects

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences ◽

10.1098/rstb.2010.0134 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 365 (1554) ◽

pp. 2853-2867 ◽

Cited By ~ 770

Author(s):

Philip K. Thornton

Keyword(s):

Cultural Values ◽

Environmental Sustainability ◽

Production Systems ◽

Animal Health ◽

Developed Countries ◽

Livestock Production ◽

Considerable Uncertainty ◽

Future Production ◽

The Future ◽

Livestock Products

The livestock sector globally is highly dynamic. In developing countries, it is evolving in response to rapidly increasing demand for livestock products. In developed countries, demand for livestock products is stagnating, while many production systems are increasing their efficiency and environmental sustainability. Historical changes in the demand for livestock products have been largely driven by human population growth, income growth and urbanization and the production response in different livestock systems has been associated with science and technology as well as increases in animal numbers. In the future, production will increasingly be affected by competition for natural resources, particularly land and water, competition between food and feed and by the need to operate in a carbon-constrained economy. Developments in breeding, nutrition and animal health will continue to contribute to increasing potential production and further efficiency and genetic gains. Livestock production is likely to be increasingly affected by carbon constraints and environmental and animal welfare legislation. Demand for livestock products in the future could be heavily moderated by socio-economic factors such as human health concerns and changing socio-cultural values. There is considerable uncertainty as to how these factors will play out in different regions of the world in the coming decades.

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Conservation of animal genetic resources: approaches and technologies for in situ and ex situ conservation

Animal Genetic Resources Information ◽

10.1017/s1014233900002571 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 42 ◽

pp. 71-85 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

J.A. Woolliams ◽

O. Matika ◽

J. Pattison

Keyword(s):

Rural Communities ◽

Genetic Resources ◽

Large Scale ◽

Production Systems ◽

Regional Distribution ◽

Livestock Production ◽

Ex Situ ◽

Animal Genetic Resources ◽

The Face ◽

Livestock Products

SummaryLivestock production faces major challenges through the coincidence of major drivers of change, some with conflicting directions. These are:1. An unprecedented global change in demands for traditional livestock products such as meat, milk and eggs.2. Large changes in the demographic and regional distribution of these demands.3. The need to reduce poverty in rural communities by providing sustainable livelihoods.4. The possible emergence of new agricultural outputs such as bio-fuels making a significant impact upon traditional production systems.5. A growing awareness of the need to reduce the environmental impact of livestock production.6. The uncertainty in the scale and impact of climate change. This paper explores these challenges from a scientific perspective in the face of the large-scale and selective erosion of our animal genetic resources, and concludes thai there is a stronger and more urgent need than ever before to secure the livestock genetic resources available to humankind through a comprehensive global conservation programme.

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Ecoagriculture for a Sustainable Food Future

10.1071/9781486313426 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Nicole Chalmer

Keyword(s):

Environmental Sustainability ◽

Cultural Sensitivity ◽

Food Production ◽

Food Systems ◽

Production Systems ◽

Historical Context ◽

Agricultural Practices ◽

Constant Input ◽

Sustainable Food ◽

European Farming

Global food security is dependent on ecologically viable production systems, but current agricultural practices are often at odds with environmental sustainability. Resolving this disparity is a huge task, but there is much that can be learned from traditional food production systems that persisted for thousands of years. Ecoagriculture for a Sustainable Food Future describes the ecological history of food production systems in Australia, showing how Aboriginal food systems collapsed when European farming methods were imposed on bushlands. The industrialised agricultural systems that are now prevalent across the world require constant input of finite resources, and continue to cause destructive environmental change. This book explores the damage that has arisen from farming systems unsuited to their environment, and presents compelling evidence that producing food is an ecological process that needs to be rethought in order to ensure resilient food production into the future. Cultural sensitivity Readers are warned that there may be words, descriptions and terms used in this book that are culturally sensitive, and which might not normally be used in certain public or community contexts. While this information may not reflect current understanding, it is provided by the author in a historical context.

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Opportunities and trade-offs in dual-purpose cereals across the southern Australian mixed-farming zone: a modelling study

Animal Production Science ◽

10.1071/an09006 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 49 (10) ◽

pp. 759 ◽

Cited By ~ 39

Author(s):

Andrew D. Moore

Keyword(s):

Western Australia ◽

Production Systems ◽

Wheat Yield ◽

Livestock Production ◽

Relative Reduction ◽

Dual Purpose ◽

South Eastern ◽

Trade Offs ◽

Eastern Australia ◽

South Eastern Australia

Dual-purpose cereals are employed in the high-rainfall zone of southern Australia to provide additional winter forage. Recently there has been interest in applying this technology in the drier environments of South and Western Australia. It would therefore be useful to gain an understanding of the trade-offs and risks associated with grazing wheat crops in different locations. In this study the APSIM (Agricultural Production Systems Simulator) crop and soil simulation models were linked to the GRAZPLAN pasture and livestock models and used to examine the benefits and costs of grazing cereal crops at 21 locations spanning seven of the regions participating in the Grain & Graze research, development and extension program. A self-contained part of a mixed farm (an annual pasture–wheat rotation plus permanent pastures) supporting a breeding ewe enterprise was simulated. At each location the consequences were examined of: (i) replacing a spring wheat cultivar with a dual-purpose cultivar (cv. Wedgetail or Tennant) in 1 year of the rotation; and (ii) either grazing that crop in winter, or leaving it ungrazed. The frequency of early sowing opportunities enabling the use of a dual-purpose cultivar was high. When left ungrazed the dual-purpose cultivars yielded less grain on average (by 0.1–0.9 t/ha) than spring cultivars in Western Australia and the Eyre Peninsula but more (by 0.25–0.8 t/ha) in south-eastern Australia. Stocking rate and hence animal production per ha could be increased proportionately more when a dual-purpose cultivar was used for grazing; because of the adjustments to stocking rates, grazing of the wheat had little effect on lamb sale weights. Across locations, the relative reduction in wheat yield caused by grazing the wheats was proportional to the grazing pressure upon them. Any economic advantage of moving to a dual-purpose system is likely to arise mainly from the benefit to livestock production in Western Australia, but primarily from grain production in south-eastern Australia (including the Mallee region). Between years, the relationship between increased livestock production and decreased grain yield from grazing crops shifts widely; it may therefore be possible to identify flexible grazing rules that optimise this trade-off.

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Mixed farming and intensification of animal production systems in Asia

Outlook on Agriculture ◽

10.1177/003072709702600407 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 26 (4) ◽

pp. 255-265 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

C. Devendra

Keyword(s):

Environmental Sustainability ◽

Production Systems ◽

Livestock Production ◽

Economic Benefits ◽

The Philippines ◽

Natural Resource Use ◽

Feed Resources ◽

Livestock Disease ◽

Animal Genetic Resources ◽

Semiarid Tropics

Integrated crop-animal systems are important in Asia. Both ruminants and non-ruminants are used in a variety of combinations with annual and perennial crops in Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, China and Sri Lanka. These combined systems provide distinct economic benefits, and are more compatible with ecological and environmental sustainability. Increased investment in these systems is likely and research is needed on feed resources, use of indigenous animal genetic resources and livestock disease to increase livestock production. In addition, available research results should be applied and enabling policies developed to promote increased investment in livestock production and natural resource use and management in the rainfed warm humid/subhumid and arid/semiarid tropics.

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Integrated crop-livestock production systems in China

The Rangeland Journal ◽

10.1071/rj08018 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 30 (2) ◽

pp. 221 ◽

Cited By ~ 33

Author(s):

F. J. Hou ◽

Z. B. Nan ◽

Y. Z. Xie ◽

X. L. Li ◽

H. L. Lin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Environmental Sustainability ◽

Production Systems ◽

Effective Means ◽

Farming Systems ◽

Livestock Production ◽

Guizhou Province ◽

Western China ◽

Karst Region ◽

Rangeland Degradation ◽

The People

The integrated crop-livestock production system provides most of the food needed by the people of China. Five types of integrated production systems are recognised; rangeland, grain crops, crop/pasture, agro-silvopastoral and ponds. Development of more sustainable and integrated crop-pasture-rangeland-livestock production systems has been recently achieved. Demonstrations of the integrated systems at household, village and regional levels are occurring for rain-fed agriculture on the Loess Plateau, the Hexi Corridor, north-western China and the Karst region of Guizhou Province, south-western China. These indicate that integration of crop, livestock and forage are effective means of improving agricultural productivity, environmental sustainability and farmers’ incomes. Widespread adoption of integrated farming systems should also reduce rangeland degradation.

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Native Grasslands at the Core: A New Paradigm of Intensification for the Campos of Southern South America to Increase Economic and Environmental Sustainability

Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems ◽

10.3389/fsufs.2021.547834 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 ◽

Author(s):

Martín Jaurena ◽

Martín Durante ◽

Thais Devincenzi ◽

Jean V. Savian ◽

Diego Bendersky ◽

...

Keyword(s):

South America ◽

Environmental Sustainability ◽

Nutritive Value ◽

Grazing Intensity ◽

Livestock Production ◽

New Paradigm ◽

Southern South America ◽

The Core ◽

Native Grasslands ◽

Trade Offs

Extensive livestock production in southern South America occupies ~0.5 M km2 in central-eastern Argentina, Uruguay and southern Brazil. These systems have been sustained for more than 300 years by year-long grazing of the highly biodiverse native Campos ecosystems that provides many valuable additional ecosystem services. However, their low productivity (~70 kg liveweight/ha per year), at least relative to values recorded in experiments and by best farmers, has been driving continued land use conversion towards agriculture and forestry. Therefore, there is a pressing need for usable, cost effective technological options based on scientific knowledge that increase profitability while supporting the conservation of native grasslands. In the early 2000s, existing knowledge was synthesized in a path of six sequential steps of increasing intensification. Even though higher productivity underlined that path, it was recognized that trade-offs would occur, with increases in productivity being concomitant to reductions in diversity, resilience to droughts, and a higher exposure to financial risks. Here, we put forward a proposal to shift the current paradigm away from a linear sequence and toward a flexible dashboard of intensification options to be implemented in defined modules within a farm whose aims are (i) to maintain native grasslands as the main feed source, and (ii) ameliorate its two major productive drawbacks: marked seasonality and relatively rapid loss of low nutritive value-hence the title “native grasslands at the core.” At its center, the proposal highlights a key role for optimal grazing management of native grasslands to increase productivity and resilience while maintaining low system wide costs and financial risk, but acknowledges that achieving the required spatio-temporal control of grazing intensity requires using (a portfolio of) complementary, synergistic intensification options. We sum up experimental evidence and case studies supporting the hypothesis that integrating intensification options increases both profitability and environmental sustainability of livestock production in Campos ecosystems.

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Towards food systems transformation—five paradigm shifts for healthy, inclusive and sustainable food systems

Food Security ◽

10.1007/s12571-021-01221-4 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Ruerd Ruben ◽

Romina Cavatassi ◽

Leslie Lipper ◽

Eric Smaling ◽

Paul Winters

Keyword(s):

Environmental Sustainability ◽

Food Systems ◽

Food System ◽

Paradigm Shifts ◽

System Transformation ◽

Sustainable Food ◽

Trade Offs ◽

Environmental Objectives ◽

Participatory Institutions ◽

Systems Transformation

AbstractFood systems must serve different societal, public health and individual nutrition, and environmental objectives and therefore face numerous challenges. Considering the integrated performances of food systems, this paper highlights five fundamental paradigm shifts that are required to overcome trade-offs and build synergies between health and nutrition, inclusive livelihoods, environmental sustainability and food system resilience. We focus on the challenges to raise policy ambitions, to harmonize production and consumption goals, to improve connectivity between them, to strengthen food system performance and to anchor the governance of food systems in inclusive policies and participatory institutions. Taken together, these shifts in paradigms shape a new discourse for food system transformation that will be capable to respond to current and future policy challenges.

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Challenges and insights from holistic sustainability reporting for shrimp fisheries in different jurisdictions

ICES Journal of Marine Science ◽

10.1093/icesjms/fsaa048 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 77 (6) ◽

pp. 2022-2032

Author(s):

Sara Hornborg ◽

Alistair J Hobday ◽

Emily Ogier ◽

Aysha Fleming ◽

Linda Thomas ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Environmental Sustainability ◽

High Performance ◽

International Comparisons ◽

Sustainability Reporting ◽

Cost Effective ◽

Data Availability ◽

Sustainable Food ◽

Governance Indicators ◽

Trade Offs ◽

Ethical Governance

Abstract Sustainability of fisheries extends beyond environmental aspects. Broad information is today sought for decision-making and by many stakeholders. Here, a framework recently developed to comprehensively report on sustainability issues relevant to fisheries, the Australian Fisheries Healthcheck, was used to compare five crustacean trawl fisheries from Australia and Europe. Indicators covered 51 different aspects of sustainability in 24 sub-categories related to ecological, economic, social and ethical, governance, and external (e.g. climate, contaminants) dimensions. We found that data availability did not vary greatly between fisheries, but the indicator outcomes did. Furthermore, while environmental sustainability has received most attention in assessments to date, the associated indicators had the least publicly available data. Another finding was that eco-certification and high performance on several governance indicators did not necessarily equate to sustainability. For future international comparisons, challenges include identifying comparable and cost-effective metrics for indicators derived from different data collection strategies. Commencing holistic reporting on broader sustainability is important since the data provided (i) are sought by stakeholders; (ii) enable improved availability of empirical data for research on the effectiveness of different governance modes; (iii) can illustrate trade-offs between different dimensions of sustainability, and (iv) build trust in the fishery system as producers of sustainable food.

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Productivity-Enhancing Technologies. Can Consumer Choices Affect the Environmental Footprint of Beef?

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13084283 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (8) ◽

pp. 4283

Author(s):

Isaac A. Aboagye ◽

Marcos R. C. Cordeiro ◽

Tim A. McAllister ◽

Kim H. Ominski

Keyword(s):

Environmental Sustainability ◽

Production Systems ◽

Animal Health ◽

Growth Hormones ◽

Future Research ◽

Public Attention ◽

Beef Industry ◽

Beta Adrenergic Agonists ◽

Trade Offs ◽

Research Questions

Use of productivity-enhancing technologies (PET: growth hormones, ionophores, and beta-adrenergic agonists) to improve productivity has recently garnered public attention regarding environmentally sustainability, animal welfare, and human health. These consumer perceptions and increased demand for PET-free beef offer opportunities for the beef industry to target niche premium markets, domestically and internationally. However, there is a need to critically examine the trade-offs and benefits of beef raised with and without the use of PETs. This review contains a summary of the current literature regarding PET products available. The implications of their use on resource utilization, food safety and security, as well as animal health and welfare are discussed. Furthermore, we identified gaps in knowledge and future research questions related to the sustainability of these technologies in beef production systems. This work highlights the tradeoffs between environmental sustainability of beef and supplying the dietary needs of a growing population.

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