Sustainable intensification in the Brazilian cattle industry: the role for reduced slaughter age

Author:

Skidmore Marin Elisabeth,Sims Kaitlyn MORCID,Rausch Lisa LORCID,Gibbs Holly KORCID

Abstract

Abstract The cattle industry in the Brazilian Amazon causes vast deforestation while producing at only one-third of the sustainable capacity. Slaughtering cattle at a younger age directly increases production per hectare per year, all else equal, and provides a potential path for sustainable intensification. Here we show that slaughter age is decreasing in the Amazon biome, but this increase in productivity varies across space and throughout the cattle supply chain. We characterize the properties and municipalities that have reduced slaughter age, providing insights into the incentives and barriers to this form of intensification. Most notably, reductions in slaughter age occurred in regions with low remaining forest cover and on properties with little current deforestation, suggesting that ranchers intensify via slaughter age as an alternative to deforestation. We then estimate how changing production practices to reduce slaughter age can reduce enteric methane emissions, accounting for production of additional feed. Our results indicate that reducing slaughter age through improved pasture and feed sources are a path to lower global GHG emissions from cattle production, particularly as beef is increasingly produced in developing countries with historically higher emissions. Yet in the Amazon, deforestation remains the leading source of GHG emissions, necessitating that any effort to reduce slaughter age must be coupled with strict enforcement of zero-deforestation policy. Our findings demonstrate the potential of policy limiting deforestation as a means to reduce both emissions from deforestation and enteric emissions from cattle.

Funder

Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation

Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation’s Department for Civil Society

Publisher

IOP Publishing

Subject

Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health,General Environmental Science,Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment

Reference86 articles.

1. Policies for reduced deforestation and their impact on agricultural production;Angelsen;Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA,2010

2. Deforestation slowdown in the Brazilian Amazon: prices or policies?;Assunção;Environ. Dev. Econ.,2015

3. Agricultural productivity and deforestation in Brazil;Assunção;Working Paper,2017

4. Data Descriptor: SEEG initiative estimates of Brazilian greenhouse gas emissions from 1970 to 2015;Azevedo;Sci. Data,2018

Cited by 10 articles. 订阅此论文施引文献 订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献

同舟云学术

1.学者识别学者识别

2.学术分析学术分析

3.人才评估人才评估

"同舟云学术"是以全球学者为主线,采集、加工和组织学术论文而形成的新型学术文献查询和分析系统,可以对全球学者进行文献检索和人才价值评估。用户可以通过关注某些学科领域的顶尖人物而持续追踪该领域的学科进展和研究前沿。经过近期的数据扩容,当前同舟云学术共收录了国内外主流学术期刊6万余种,收集的期刊论文及会议论文总量共计约1.5亿篇,并以每天添加12000余篇中外论文的速度递增。我们也可以为用户提供个性化、定制化的学者数据。欢迎来电咨询!咨询电话:010-8811{复制后删除}0370

www.globalauthorid.com

TOP

Copyright © 2019-2024 北京同舟云网络信息技术有限公司
京公网安备11010802033243号  京ICP备18003416号-3