Beef × dairy crossbred cattle are becoming an increasingly important source of feeder cattle to the U.S. beef industry. However, the carbon footprint of this source of beef under contrasting growing regimens is largely unknown. We conducted a partial life-cycle analysis to estimate and compare the carbon footprint of beef × dairy and beef steers who were either grown on pasture or in confinement prior to being finished at a commercial feedlot. Cattle that were subjected to a stocker phase (i.e., grown on pasture) had a greater carbon footprint than cattle grown in a feedlot. When only considering the stocker and finishing sectors’ emissions, beef × dairy crossbred steers had a greater predicted carbon footprint than beef steers. However, when system boundaries are expanded to include estimates of dam emissions, beef × dairy steers will have a lower predicted carbon footprint than beef steers.

Read the full article in the Journal of Animal Science.