Environmental Sustainability Assessment of the Australian Feedlot Industry

Summary

Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) undertook a project (COMP.094) to provide credible data on the industry's environmental impacts and sustainability. The project outcomes were for use by industry, including its interactions with government, community groups and the media. The project utilised the standardised tool, Life Cycle Analysis (LCA), to quantify natural resource consumption and environmental interventions to water, soil and air.

As part of this overall industry project, the beef cattle lot feeding sector undertook this concurrent project to contribute to the whole of industry dataset. Importantly, the project was also undertaken to address the public misconceptions concerning the environmental sustainability of the feedlot industry. It identified and quantified the environmental costs associated with the production of one kilogram of hot standard carcass weight gain (HSCW) to enable comparison with its domestic competing products (grass fed beef, lamb, pig and poultry meats). In this context, HSCW gain is the difference between total dressed carcass weights of cattle leaving the feedlot less the estimated total dressed carcass weight of cattle entering the feedlot.

Data for the project was collected through an online survey process, with subsequent follow-up by the researchers to clarify any questions about the data. Nine (9) feedlots, representative of the diversity of operations found within the feedlot sector, participated in the survey process.

To ensure all this data and information was presented in a suitable manner, six reports were compiled.

1. Water Usage at Australian Feedlots - presents a background literature review of water usage at feedlots, data collection and results, as well as an analysis and discussion of the data collected. The report is the life cycle inventory for the water use component of the feedlot sub-system.
2. Energy Usage and Greenhouse Gas Emission Estimation at Australian Feedlots - presents a background literature review of energy usage and GHG emissions at feedlots, data collection and results. A discussion of results and the relative merits of the current GHG emission calculation methodology by the Australian Greenhouse Office (AGO) are included. This report is the life cycle inventory for the energy use and GHG emissions component of the feedlot sub-system.
3. Nutrient Cycling at Australian Feedlots - includes a literature review of nutrient pathways at feedlots, data collection and results as well as an analysis and discussion of the data collected. This report is the life cycle inventory for the nutrient cycling component of the feedlot sub-system.
4. NPI Listed Substances Emission Estimation for Australian Feedlots - provides a summary of the National Pollutant Inventory (NPI) reporting framework, data collection and results for category I listed substances. The report also includes a discussion of the relative merits of the current NPI emission estimation methodology, with guidance on an alternative method for use under Australian conditions.
5. Review of Lot Fed Cattle Water Consumption - provides a review of research undertaken in the early 1990’s on water consumption in feedlots. It provides a more detailed literature review on the factors influencing drinking water requirements than is provided in the Part A report, experimental methodology, data collected and discussion of the results and outcomes of this research.
6. Resource Use and Environmental Impact Assessment for Australian Feedlots - provides a summary of feedlot-relevant natural resources management issues (NRM), data collection and results. A discussion of the environmental impact of the use of these resources by beef cattle feedlots is also included.

In addition to providing lifecycle inventory information for input to COMP.094, it did supply industry with credible data to support its environmental credentials. The project also provided a series of recommendations for further research, many of which have been actively pursued by industry through MLA.