Source:  Tom Johnston, MEATINGPLACE.COM, 8/2/10

A research library has been formed by marketing and technical representatives from U.S. animal-health companies to offer beef producers scientific information about sustainable practices.

The Sustainable Beef Resource Center, announced at the Cattle Industry Summer Conference in Denver late last week, is a free online collection of research that includes six white papers on topics ranging from the 50-year impact of pharmaceutical technologies on beef to the economic and environmental benefits of current beef management practices. The organization’s website, www.sustainablebeef.org , also houses a library of data previously compiled by the Growth Enhancement Technology Information Team (GET IT).

SBRC said it currently is working with third-party experts to create an environmental-impact model and economic analysis of technologies used to help produce wholesome, affordable beef.

“SBRC members clearly see our organization’s role as that of a go-to resource for associations, coalitions, academia and other industry stakeholders – organizations that already are trusted information sources regarding how beef is produced,” SBRC chairman Paul Parker said in a news release. “This allows us to zero in on research that can fill information gaps as the industry continuously improves its ability to produce safe, wholesome beef affordably while using fewer natural resources.

SBRC also is conducting new research, having commissioned two academic authorities with expertise in beef life-cycle assessment modeling and global agricultural economics to develop a new white paper that answers two questions: 1.) What are the productivity and environmental effects of removing growth-enhancing technologies from the U.S. beef production system? 2.) What are the global economic, land-use and environmental implications of the corresponding loss of productivity of the U.S. beef herd if growth-enhancing technologies are not used? Results will be available in early 2011.

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