Environmentally Sustainable Livestock Production

This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue "Environmentally Sustainable Livestock Production" that was published in Sustainability

This book looks at key research covering a wide range of aspects of environmental sustainability and the mitigation of environmental impacts of livestock production, including emissions of greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide), nitrogen and phosphorus excretion, ammonia emissions, land use and land management, and use of energy and other resources. All the globally most important livestock species (beef and dairy cattle, pigs, broiler chicken and laying hens) are covered in the book. The mitigation methods assessed in the papers include general system changes, changes in feeding, improvement of animal health, and new technologies of manure management. The scope of the papers included in this book ranges from farm level mitigation methods to national level system changes. This book also addresses methodological development in assessing the environmental sustainability of the livestock production chains, including holistic methods, such as environmental and social life cycle assessment (LCA) and other modeling approaches.

Management Strategies for Sustainable Cattle Production in Southern Pastures is a practical resource for scientists, students, and stakeholders who want to understand the relationships between soil-plant interactions and pasture management strategies, and the resultant performance of cow-calf and stocker cattle. This book illustrates the importance of matching cattle breed types and plant hardiness zones to optimize cattle production from forages and pastures. It explains the biologic and economic implications of grazing management decisions made to improve sustainability of pastures and cattle production while being compliant with present and future environmental concerns and cattle welfare programs. Documents the effects of cattle grazing on greenhouse gas emissions and carbon footprints Discusses strategies to enhance soil fertility, soil health, and nutrient cycling in pastures Provides information on the use of stocking rates, stocking strategies and grazing systems to optimize cow-calf production of weaned calves and stockers. Presents innovations in cattle supplementation and watering systems to minimize negative impacts on water and soil health Includes methods for weed control to maintain pasture condition and ecosystem stability Describes management strategies to integrate cattle operations with wildlife sustainability

"The assessment builds on the work of the Livestock, Environment and Development (LEAD) Initiative"--Pref.

This collection features five peer-reviewed literature reviews on the environmental impact of livestock production. The first chapter discusses life cycle assessment (LCA) and its role in evaluating the environmental footprint of farming systems. The chapter also explores how the practical trade-off between feasibility and scientific rigour should be addressed in the field of ruminant production systems. The second chapter explores some of the many facets of livestock's contributions to climate change and the difficulties involved in quantifying them, with a closer look into the contribution of livestock methane emissions to changing atmospheric methane concentrations over the last few decades. The third chapter presents a review of the environmental sustainability impacts of swine production, focused at the farm level because the majority of environmental impacts occur by this stage of the supply chain. The fourth chapter considers the potential strategies that can be implemented to improve the environmental performance of intensive poultry systems. The final chapter examines how LCA can be used as a tool to quantify multiple resource use and environmental impacts. It details how potentially harmful emissions can be assessed and measured at each stage in the life cycle of sheep products. What is an Instant Insight? An Instant Insight gives you immediate access to key research on a topic, allowing you to get right to the heart of a subject in an instant and empowering you to contribute to sustainable agriculture.

Sustainable Meat Production and Processing presents current solutions to promote industrial sustainability and best practices in meat production, from postharvest to consumption. The book acts as a guide for meat and animal scientists, technologists, engineers, professionals and producers. The 12 most trending topics of sustainable meat processing and meat by-products management are included, as are advances in ingredient and processing systems for meat products, techno-functional ingredients for meat products, protein recovery from meat processing by-products, applications of blood proteins, artificial meat production, possible uses of processed slaughter co-products, and environmental considerations. Finally, the book covers the preferred technologies for sustainable meat production, natural antioxidants as additives in meat products, and facilitators and barriers for foods containing meat co-products. Analyzes the role of novel technologies for sustainable meat processing Covers how to maintain sustainability and achieve high levels of meat quality and safety Presents solutions to improve productivity and environmental sustainability Takes a proteomic approach to characterize the biochemistry of meat quality defects

In order to meet increasing global demand for meat and animal by-products increasingly intensive animal production is necessary. Creating a sustainable system in animal agriculture that works in different production environments is a major challenge for animal scientists. This book draws together themes on sustainability that have emerged as the most pressing in recent years. Addressing practical topics such as air quality, manure management, animal feeds, production efficiency, environmental sustainability, biotechnology issues, animal welfare concerns, societal impacts and an analysis of the data used to assess the economic sustainability of farms.

Animal Agriculture: Sustainability, Challenges and Innovations discusses the land-based production of high-quality protein by livestock and poultry and how it plays an important role in improving human nutrition, growth and health. With exponential growth of the global population and marked rises in meat consumption per capita, demands for animal-source protein are expected to increase 72% between 2013 and 2050. This raises concerns about the sustainability and environmental impacts of animal agriculture. An attractive solution to meeting increasing needs for animal products and mitigating undesirable effects of agricultural practices is to enhance the efficiency of animal growth, reproduction, and lactation. Currently, there is no resource that offers specific knowledge of both animal science and technology, including biotechnology for the sustainability of animal agriculture for the expanding global demand of food in the face of diminishing resources. This book fills that gap, giving readers all the necessary information on important issues facing modern animal agriculture, namely its sustainability, challenges and innovative solutions. Integrates new knowledge in animal breeding, biotechnology, nutrition, reproduction and management Addresses the urgent issue of sustainability in modern animal agriculture Provides practical solutions on how to solve the current and future problems that face animal agriculture worldwide