Way

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Ways Livestock Affect Environmental Quality

• Excess manure nutrients
• Fecal Nutrients
• N and N-containing components
• P
• Trace minerals
• Urinary nutrients
• N
• May have direct or indirect effects on
  environmental quality
• NH3 causes respiratory problems
• H2S is a toxic gas
• N and P causes algae blooms that depletes water
  O2 concentrations causing fish kills
• Fermentation gases
• CH4 and CO2 are Green House Gases associated with
  global warming
• Dust
• From animal skin, hair, feed and bare soil

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• Pathogens
• May be direct from manure deposition and runoff
  or endotoxins in air within confinement buildings
• May be indirect from N and P
• Endocrine disrupters
• Animal Mortalities
• Contributes N, P, gases, pathogens, and bad
  aesthetic quality
• Pasture erosion
• From upland and riparian areas
• Loss of biodiversity
• Directly from selective grazing
• Indirectly from nutrient imbalance
• All effects are manageable with good management

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Use of Nutrient Balance to Control Environmental
Problems Associated with Livestock
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Problems with Managing Livestock for
Environmental Quality

• Structure of agriculture
• Regulations are rapidly changing
• Lack of meaningful measurements of performance
• Inadequate technologies
• Solving one environmental problem can cause other
  problems
• Controlling environmental quality requires more
  and different management
• Economic costs

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INTEGRATED BEEF AND CROP PRODUCTION IN A BIOFUEL
ERA
Nutrients Energy
Nutrients
Products
Regional border
Nutrient and energy losses Environmental damage
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Problems with Managing Livestock for
Environmental Quality

• Structure of agriculture
• Regulations are rapidly changing
• Lack of meaningful measurements of performance
• Inadequate technologies
• Solving one environmental problem can cause other
  problems
• Controlling environmental quality requires more
  and different management
• Economic costs

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Why Manage Livestock for Environmental Quality?

• To meet governmental regulations
• To meet specifications set by food retailers or
  niche market programs
• Reduce offsite costs of environmental damage
• To avoid conflicts with neighbors and community
• Can be a win-win situation
• Balancing diets will reduce feed costs
• Proper manure application will reduce fertilizer
  costs
• Improved grazing management will increase
  production while improving pasture stream water
  quality
• Marketing advantage

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Problems with Managing Livestock for
Environmental Quality

• Confounding of environmental goals with social,
  economic, animal welfare or aesthetic goals
• Problems of denial by some producers and groups
  in livestock production
• Arguments that are not positive inhibit progress
  and increases conflicts
• Need to consider the perspectives of consumers
• Regulations are rapidly changing
• More is learned about the relationship between
  environmental health and human health
• General public in U.S. and other countries are
  calling for more environmental protection
• Conflicting and emerging science on the effects
  of livestock on the environment

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• Measurement of nonpoint source pollution is
  difficult and often inaccurate.
• Atmospheric NH3 is measured on an air-shed basis
• Sediment and P entering pasture streams primarily
  occurs during storm events and is confounded by
  upstream management practices
• Manure odor is composed by as many as 300 odors
• Solving one environmental problem can lead to
  another
• Injection of manure into the soil reduces NH3
  volatilization, odors and P loss, but may
  increased dissolved NO3 and P in ground water
• Increasing N fertilization increases forage
  production, but decreases biodiversity
• Implications
• Must think holistically

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• To limit nutrient excretion, diets must be
  accurately blended to meet animal requirements,
  but
• Exact nutrient requirements for many species at
  different sizes and sexes are not accurately
  known
• Most nutrient requirements have been set with
  safety margins above the physiological functions
• Diets balanced for environmental management may
  have some risk for reduced performance, but dont
  necessarily have to

Production
Production/animal
Excretion
Nutrient consumed
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• Common feedstuffs contain imbalances of various
  nutrients
• Grains contain high concentrations of P
• Legume forage contain high concentrations of
  protein that is highly degradable in the rumen of
  cattle
• Rapid measurement of many feed microingredients
  are difficult, expensive, or nonexistent
• Composition of manure is variable
• Crop producers prefer using fertilizer nutrients
• Controlling environmental quality requires more
  management
• Its easier to feed a single group of animals
  than groups of animals separated by sex and size
• Its easier taking a trace mineral block out to a
  cowherd than to calculate whether they need it
• Its easier just applying fertilizer than
  analyzing and calibrating manure application

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• Structure of Agriculture
• 50 of the corn produced in NE leaves the state
• Farms that produce more manure than can be safely
  applied at the agronomic rate account for
• 60 of the nations manure N
• 70 of the nations manure P
• Measure to manage livestock to maintain
  environmental quality will have an economic cost
• If the number of animals per acre are limited,
  operations may be too small to be economically
  viable
• Measures like diet manipulation or improved
  manure handling, storage and application will
  likely have economic costs
• Who pays?
• Government
• Consumers
• Producers