RELATED ARTICLES
Here are a couple of articles to help you understand what feed efficiency in cattle can do
to create a better environment.
#ecobeefranch
FEED EFFICIENCY IN BEEF -- THERE IS A GENETIC SOLUTION!
Lower Feed Intake Reduces Greenhouse Gas
Facts
We love what we do! Our hope is to feed future generations, make the cattle business profitable again, and stay in business. We love mankind. Animal health is an investment. Here are some facts to educate you the consumer about our industry.
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More than 85% of the land grazed by ranchers is not suitable for crop production.
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A grazing ruminant animal is the best utilization for this type of land, beef are the most efficient up-cyclers.
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86% of global livestock feed is not humanly edible.
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90% of grain finished animal consumption <10% is grain
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There are 6.9 billion people in the world.
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Experts claim there will be 9 billion by the year 2050.
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In the next 10 years experts claim 3 billion people will move up to the middle class.
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Building better cattle is a lifetime event.
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There is an alarming exodus of US Cattle Operations. Beef cattle operations; 900,000 in 1996 fell to 750,000 in 2009.
What consumes 1.9 billion pounds/year of plant based leftovers produced by the U.S. human food, fiber, and biofuel industries? Livestock.
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According to United Nations FOA (Food and Agriculture Organization) 86% is human-inedible plants and leftovers of what cattle eat. At the feedlot that number jumps to 90%, and less than 10% is grain consumption.
Without livestock what would we do with this waste and how would we be able to turn it into edible protein for humans?
Cattle act as up-cyclers, meaning they eat grasses and plant matter leftover from human food production and upgrade them into nutritional, high quality protein. In fact, they produce 19% more edible protein than they consume.
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Reducing GHG emissions may seem like a lot of mumbo jumbo but currently the best management practices for reducing GHG emissions can also be the best management practices for improving production efficiency on your ranch and be beneficial to your business’ bottom line. Such as feeding cattle based on their nutrient needs rather than all-they can eat diet or a bale of hay a day. Increasing production efficiency will result in more cattle marketed or more live weight produced while using fewer resources greatly affecting breeding, feeding, and herd health.
In fact, finishing cattle approx. 42 days earlier in a feedlot can save up to $150/hd. A university of CA study at the Davis feedlot facility showed CH4 emissions are dependent upon several factors including DMI, energy content of feed and ADG. For cattle finishing earlier in feedlots, slaughter weights are reached at a younger age, reducing lifetime emissions per animal and proportionately fewer animals producing methane.
The livestock industry is vital to local economies. Reducing emissions while maintaining or increasing productivity is important for the ranchers bottom line and to the community in which they live. Genetic feed efficiency is the only true way to accomplish this goal.