Beef Sustainability; Defined

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Sustainable Beef Production; Defined


What does Sustainable mean to the U.S. agriculture industry? In a April 2015 interview on KSIR,  NCBA President, Philip Ellis defines this concept as using less resources to produce more beef. This idea of sustainable is now being used within national conversations regarding environmental and land protection. NCBA is a member of the Global Roundtable for sustainable Beef, whose mission is to:(as taken from their website)  The GRSB mission is to advance continuous improvement in sustainability of the global beef value chain through leadership, science and multi-stakeholder engagement and collaboration."

According to the SFGate website, writer Susanna Didier cites that sustainable agriculture is a broad topic. It consists of stewardship of both natural and human resources. Human resource stewardship is about the working and living conditions of producers, while land stewardship is about maintaining or enhancing the natural resource base on a long term basis.

The 1990 version of the Farm Bill also addressed sustainability as part of the long term plans for America to meet the need of food and fiber for the population while enhancing natural resources and being efficient with non renewables.

Examples of sustainability are rotate crops for wee, disease and pest management, integrating in soil enhancements like green manure and compost, practice soil conservation, minimize soil erosion,  and use efficient irrigation water practices.

A national initiative has been formed for creating a continuous chain of improvement in the beef industry. The website is http://grsbeef.org/. According to that website, stakeholders hope to create open dialogue that will result in global beef value and environmental soundness.

These are the key directives of this group according to the website:

• Identifying, evaluating and enabling
increased adoption of current leading
production and supply chain practices, policy
and technology

• Supporting action-oriented, regional and
local multi-stakeholder initiatives focused on
producing measurable outcomes, ensuring
local adaptation

• Addressing high-priority issues related to sustainability by sharing locally relevant and
science-based information and support pilot
projects to demonstrate those;

• Providing a forum and opportunities for
constructive engagement, information
exchange and technical problem solving.

• GRSB is the only global forum dedicated to
connecting a network of local, regional and
global leaders in the beef industry with
a common vision and mission and gives
stakeholders an equal opportunity through
member ownership of the roundtable; and

• Promoting the adoption of leading
employment and economic development
practices.

To date, the group has released global practices and criteria for defining sustainable beef and practices. To get the whole story on this, go to http://grsbeef.org/Resources/Documents/News%20Release/GRSB%20Releases%20Global%20Principles%20and%20Criteria%20for%20Sustainable%20Beef%20%28WIth%20Links%29.pdf.

As the article indicates, the next steps is to work at regional and state levels to find more efficient ways to produce beef on a local level.

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