Knowledge and tools to enhance resilience of beef grazing systems for sustainable animal protein production.
Ruminant livestock provides meat and dairy products that sustain health and livelihood for much of the world's population. Grazing lands that support ruminant livestock provide numerous ecosystem services, including provision of food, water, and genetic resources; climate and water regulation; support of soil formation; nutrient cycling; and cultural services. In the U.S. southern Great Plains, beef production on pastures, rangelands, and hay is a major economic activity. The region's climate is characterized by extremes of heat and cold and extremes of drought and flooding. Grazing lands occupy a large portion of the region's land, significantly affecting carbon, nitrogen, and water budgets. To understand vulnerabilities and enhance resilience of beef production, a multi-institutional Coordinated Agricultural Project (CAP), the "grazing CAP," was established. Integrative research and extension spanning biophysical, socioeconomic, and agricultural disciplines address management effects on productivity and environmental footprints of production systems. Knowledge and tools being developed will allow farmers and ranchers to evaluate risks and increase resilience to dynamic conditions. The knowledge and tools developed will also have relevance to grazing lands in semiarid and subhumid regions of the world.
Grazinglands Research Laboratory, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, El Reno, Oklahoma and Bushland, Texas.
Jean L
JL
Steiner
David M
DM
Engle
Xiangming
X
Xiao
Ali
A
Saleh
Peter
P
Tomlinson
Charles W
CW
Rice
N Andy
NA
Cole
Samuel W
SW
Coleman
Edward
E
Osei
Jeffrey
J
Basara
Gerad
G
Middendorf
Prasanna
P
Gowda
Richard
R
Todd
Corey
C
Moffet
Aavudai
A
Anandhi
Patrick J
PJ
Starks
Tyson
T
Ocshner
Ryan
R
Reuter
Daniel
D
Devlin
D000383:Agriculture; D000822:Animal Husbandry; D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D004044:Dietary Proteins / Q000600:supply & distribution; D005523:Food Supply; D006801:Humans; D008460:Meat / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D011891:Rain; D014481:United States
D004044:Dietary Proteins
climate change; enteric methane; grasslands; greenhouse gases; meat and milk production; rangelands; soil carbon