Nutrient Movements through Ruminant Livestock Production Systems

Considerable attention has been paid to reducing nutrient emissions from ruminant livestock in the last few decades. This area will continue to attract considerable research in the future due to increasing farm sizes in some developed countries as well as the increasing demand for meat and dairy products, particularly in developing countries. This paper discusses the deposition and losses of carbon and nitrogen in soils and plants in grazed and harvested forage systems as well as utilization and losses of both nutrients by ruminants in both systems. The paper also outlines several soil, plant, and animal-focused strategies that can be used to reduce carbon and nitrogen losses from ruminant livestock systems. These strategies will become increasingly important due to the need to feed the growing population of the world while reducing environmental pollution from ruminant livestock systems