Breakthroughs in Beef and Dairy Systems: Implementation of Science.

Two USDA NIFA Coordinated Agricultural Projects, on Beef and Dairy, have implications on the reductions to reduce the environmental footprint of ruminant livestock systems. Both projects develop environmental measures of these livestock systems and Life Cycle Assessments (LCA). Livestock systems have been criticized for their environmental footprint but there have been few comprehensive studies with measurements. Detailed measurements on the environmental footprint have been produced to provide accurate LCAs but also identify the bottleneck in the future advancement of these systems. However, for effective implementation of strategies to reduce the environmental footprint requires the understanding of the social and economic dimensions of beef and dairy systems. A unique feature of these two projects is that they have integrated social and economic information to target producers for a higher level of implementation. A summary the strategies for reduction of the environmental footprint will be presented along with the required economic and social analysis to increase the chance of success for the dairy and beef industry.