Interpretive Summary: Cattle production, water resources, and sustainability: a review of current knowledge and future directions

By: Kevin Wagner, Susan Metzger, Brent Auvermann

Implications

• Water quality degradation, increasing drought severity, and low BMP adoption threaten grazing systems, but riparian protection, adaptive grazing, precision livestock technologies, and coordinated Extension–Natural Resources Conservation Service support can meaningfully improve resilience and water outcomes.
• Feedyards face parallel challenges, particularly nutrient‑laden runoff, high indirect water use for feed, and declining irrigation supplies, yet innovations in manure management, wastewater reuse, and low‑water forage systems offer viable pathways to reduce water demand.
• Significant knowledge gaps remain, including limited watershed‑scale data, insufficient evaluation of technologies, and the need for practical reuse strategies and drought‑tolerant feed crops.
• Long‑term water sustainability requires systems‑level approaches, improved incentives, and policy alignment, as technological efficiency alone cannot overcome economic and operational barriers to widespread adoption.

Introduction

Cattle production is a cornerstone of U.S. agriculture, but it faces growing scrutiny regarding sustainability. A key driver of industry adoption of more sustainable production systems is consumer demand for environmentally responsible food products, along with evolving opportunities for market differentiation (Ishaq et al., 2024). This review evaluates water-related challenges in grazing and feedlot systems, synthesizes current research on watershed impacts and the beef water footprint, and highlights emerging strategies to support more sustainable animal production. It identifies best management practices (BMPs) for enhancing water resources, collaborative strategies for water stewardship, and critical knowledge gaps. By mapping existing studies and identifying priority areas for further investigation, this article aims to draw a cohesive roadmap for scalable interventions to enhance water sustainability in US beef production.

Read the full article in the latest edition of Animal Frontiers.