Water Usage and Efficiency in Intensive Beef Cattle Systems: Data Driven Sustainable Production
Loading...
Authors
Macias Franco, Arturo
Issue Date
2024
Type
Dissertation
Language
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
Sustainable intensification of livestock production systems in arid and semi-arid rangelands present a unique opportunity for affording food security and economic competency of developing communities globally. Around 40% of the world is considered arid or semi-arid (depending on classification/definition), and most of this land is often non-arable. Considering the projected growth of populations, ensuring robust food security for these communities is of paramount importance. Therefore, this dissertation attempts to establish mechanisms relevant to livestock production in these systems by examining key aspects of ruminant nutrition and production efficiency in resource-limited settings related to water. We investigate how livestock nutrition, performance, and data can be utilized to better understand systems, and how modeling strategies play an important role in translating data and systems to application and solutions to guide production systems to be more profitable and sustainable. The main topics include water utilization, production performance, and sustainable management strategies. The thesis is divided into four main chapters. The first chapter provides a brief review of literature about the use of water in arid systems and introduces the utilization of cattle as a sustainable tool to produce high quality food in resource-limited environments (briefly mentioning their unique adaptations). The second chapter introduces water requirements of beef cattle raised in arid systems, while evaluating water intake equations for beef cattle, emphasizing the importance of physiological status instead of environmental parameters. The third chapter will then investigate how management strategies, such as hormonal implants in beef cattle, can assist intensification and increasing sustainability of operations. This chapter will examine the performance and efficiency of implanted and non-implanted steers in arid environments, addressing key factors affecting production in these settings. Lastly, chapter four investigates how data from intensive systems can be utilized to develop better predictions, and a more thorough and mechanistic understanding of biological processes through modeling and data-driven decision making. The fourth chapter will integrate findings from previous chapters and propose strategies for optimizing cattle concludes conclude with a summary of key findings, implications for future research, and recommendations for stakeholders involved in ruminant production and management in arid environments. The general message this dissertation attempts to examine and accurately quantify water use in livestock production systems to map water requirements and water use. By better understanding water use, we can overcome misleading and misreported unrealistic values criticizing water use by cattle, and therefore, assist in shifting the narrative of cattle being a part of the problem to a part of the solution to sustainable food security globally.