Comparing environmental impacts of beef production systems: A review of life cycle assessments

Livestock production, and especially beef production, has a major impact on the environment. Environmental impacts, however, vary largely among beef systems. Understanding these differences is crucial to mitigate impacts of future global beef production. The objective of this research, therefore, was to compare cradle-to-farm-gate environmental impacts of beef produced in contrasting systems. We reviewed 14 studies that compared contrasting systems using life cycle assessment (LCA). Systems studied were classified by three main characteristics of beef production: origin of calves (bred by a dairy cow or a suckler cow), type of production (organic or non-organic) and type of diet fed to fattening calves (