Reintegrating Land and Livestock

The report argues that reintegrating livestock into diversified cropping systems can improve farmer profits and reduce environmental degradation. Using economic and environmental modeling, it demonstrates that transitioning from corn-soy monocultures to perennial pastures and complex rotations can sequester soil carbon, reduce synthetic fertilizer and fuel use, and lower water footprints. However, the author notes that these systems typically produce less beef per acre, suggesting that the greatest benefits occur when improved management is paired with a reduction in overall beef consumption. The report concludes with policy recommendations for the USDA and Congress to incentivize regenerative practices through conservation programs, crop insurance reform, and increased agroecological research.

• Conventional US beef production is dominated by grain finishing, with 97 percent of the market using this method, which relies heavily on corn; consequently, 9 to 20 percent of US corn production is consumed by beef cattle.
• Industrial beef production is linked to significant environmental issues, including high water footprints (estimated at 29 gal/oz on average in US industrial systems) and climate emissions, with beef cattle contributing approximately 2 to 3 percent of total US emissions.
• Integrating livestock into diversified agroecosystems can provide multiple environmental benefits, including the sequestration of soil carbon, reduced reliance on synthetic nitrogen fertilizers, and lower water pollution through reduced chemical runoff.
• Economic modeling indicates that transitioning to integrated systems can be profitable for farmers. The highest net returns ($298/ac) were found in scenarios where 100 percent of land was converted to perennial pasture with intensively managed grazing.
• A partial transition of a 1,000-acre conventional corn-soy farm to a well-managed grass-based grazing system (converting one-third of the land) could potentially generate $98,000 in annual profit, save $28,000 in fertilizer and $1,500 in fuel costs, and reduce climate emissions by over 400 t CO2e.
• Scaling conservation scenarios to 5.7 million acres could result in cumulative fertilizer and fuel savings of approximately $506 million, a reduction of around 8 Mt CO2e in emissions, and a reduction of the gray water footprint by about 0.5 trillion gallons.
• There is a trade-off between ecological sustainability and productivity; alternative systems often produce less beef per acre. To maintain constant land use and secure reduced net emissions, US beef production might need to decrease by 347 to 924 million lbs per year.
• The report recommends that the USDA and Congress reform the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation to include soil data in formulations and shift resources within the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) away from CAFO expansion toward diverse crop-livestock systems.

APA

DeLonge, M. (2017). Reintegrating Land and Livestock. Union of Concerned Scientists. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2017/11/reintegrating-land-and-livestock-ucs-2017.pdf

Chicago

DeLonge, Marcia. Reintegrating Land and Livestock. Union of Concerned Scientists, 2017. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2017/11/reintegrating-land-and-livestock-ucs-2017.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=DeLonge |first1=Marcia |title=Reintegrating Land and Livestock |publisher=Union of Concerned Scientists |date=October 2017 |url=https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2017/11/reintegrating-land-and-livestock-ucs-2017.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{delonge2017reintegrating, author = {DeLonge, Marcia}, title = {{Reintegrating Land and Livestock}}, institution = {Union of Concerned Scientists}, year = {2017}, month = oct, url = {https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2017/11/reintegrating-land-and-livestock-ucs-2017.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }