Less Water Needed to Produce Beef Today
Published on by Water Network Research, Official research team of The Water Network in Academic
A new study adds to a growing body of evidence that beef’s environmental footprint is lessening as time passes.
Results released Dec. 14 by researchers at University of Manitoba and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) show it now takes less water to raise a kilogram of beef.
Efficiency gains in feed production have helped reduce the water needed to
produce beef, a new study shows . Image source: PxHere
The study is part of a larger project entitled Defining the Environmental Footprint of Canadian Beef Production which has also shown reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions emitted by cattle as well as land required to raise them. The study looked at a time period between 1891 and 2011.
These newest results reveal a 17 per cent decrease in the amount of water now needed to produce that same one kilogram of beef than 30 years ago.
The improvements come from efficiency gains in feed production, how cattle are raised and from more beef now produced per animal, researchers say.
“Our results show very clearly the water footprint per kilogram of beef produced has been reduced over the years and that the industry is operating at a high level of sustainability from a water use perspective,” said Dr. Tim McAllister, a research scientist at AAFC Lethbridge and one of the study’s principal investigators.
Deemed unprecedented in its detail, the study looked at water used for feed and pasture crop production, water used by cattle for drinking, water used in feeding systems, and water used in processing.
Notably, the amount of water cattle drink accounts for less than one per cent of total water related to beef production.
Feed production, or the water required to grow pasture and crops or produce byproduct feed accounts for 99 per cent.
University of Manitoba researcher and one of the study’s lead investigators Getahun Legesse Gizaw cites several factors driving the progress they found.
Read full article: Manitoba Cooperator
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