Environmental and Water Use Economies of Scope in Beef and Cotton Production

According to CGIAR and the FAO there is a lot of variation globally in when it comes to livestock production. This variation explains differences in GHG emissions due to differences in resources, technology, management, nutrition, environment, political economy and economic development. While this implies the environmental impact of livestock presents a serious challenge globally, it also implies there is a lot of opportunity to mitigate these effects. 

Research by Allen et al integrating cotton and beef production is a proof of concept that managing food and fiber production differently can make a significant difference:

"Per hectare, the integrated system used 23% less (P < 0.001) irrigation water, 40% less N fertilizer, and fewer other chemical inputs than the cotton monoculture. Profitability was about 90% greater for the integrated system at described conditions. Integrated production systems that are less dependent on irrigation and chemical inputs appear possible while improving profitability."

In other words in irrigated environments like those in this study there can be economies of scope in beef and cotton production related to water use efficiency and other inputs.

These kinds of synergies also speak to the variation we might see when it comes to attempts to estimate the water footprint of livestock production. Depending on genetics, nutrition, technology, environment, and management there is a lot of variation.  Three different estimates we find in the literature related to beef production include:

Capper, J.L. 2011. The environmental impact of beef production in the
United States: 1977 compared with 2007. J. Anim. Sci. 89:4249-4261.

~ 317 gallons per pound

Beckett, J.L. and J.W. Oltjen. 1993. Estimation of the water
requirement for beef production in the United States. J. Anim. Sci.
71:818-826

~ 441 gallons per pound of beef

Rotz, C.A., B.J. Isenberg, K.R. Stackhouse-Lawson, and E.J. Pollak.
2013. A simulation-based approach for evaluating and comparing
the environmental footprints of beef production systems. J. Anim. Sci.
91(11):5427-5437

~ 808 

Reference: 

Allen, V. G., C. P. Brown, R. Kellison, E. Segarra, T. Wheeler, P. A. Dotray, J. C. Conkwright, C. J. Green, and V. Acosta-Martinez. 2005. Integrating cotton and beef production to reduce water withdrawal from the Ogallala aquifer in the Southern High Plains. J. Agron. 97: 556-567