What is the relationship between livestock farming practices, meat production, and the environment? A case study involving Charolais cattle

Meat production systems provoke controversy. One source of debate is the way in which different livestock systems and forage practices affect the environment, including energy consumption, greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions, and land use. In this study, we calculated indices that related meat production to environmental impacts using information from livestock farms belonging to the Charolais production area network. A cross analysis of data on such factors as meat production, calving periods, feed type, and forage practices yielded several conclusions. As farming strategies intensified, gross meat production (kg), input-related energy consumption, and GHG emissions per livestock unit increased. When environmental variables were corrected for gross meat production (i.e., transformed into indices), only net GHG emissions varied significantly with farming strategies and the amount of land dedicated to permanent grasslands