1
|
Awasthi TR, Morshed A, Williams T, Swain DL. Simulation Approaches Used for Management and Decision Making in the Beef Production Sector: A Systematic Review. Animals (Basel) 2024; 14:1632. [PMID: 38891679 PMCID: PMC11171018 DOI: 10.3390/ani14111632] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2024] [Revised: 05/13/2024] [Accepted: 05/28/2024] [Indexed: 06/21/2024] Open
Abstract
Simulation models are used in various areas of agriculture to better understand the system and assist in decision making. In the beef production sector, a variety of simulation research focusing on various dimensions of the system is available. However, an overview of the available research is lacking. Therefore, a systematic review was conducted to provide an overview of simulation studies of beef production and create an understanding of the simulation approaches used. Scopus, Web of Science, and ProQuest Central research databases were used to search the relevant articles, with the last search conducted in June 2023. Studies that developed or used simulation strategies and used beef cattle as a primary focus of the study were included. The 105 studies included in this review were examined thoroughly to record the authors, year of publication, country of study, type of study, focus area of the study, simulated scenarios, validation methods, and software programs used. There has been growing research interest in simulating beef production systems worldwide, with most studies conducted in North America and Europe. Among these studies, the majority (84.76%, n = 89) are biophysical or bioeconomic study types and use deterministic approaches (n = 42). Additionally, most studies have a whole-farm scope (38.09%, n = 40) and focus on productivity (51.43%, n = 54). Since only less than half of the studies mentioned the validation techniques and software programs used, there is a need to improve the availability of this information to ensure that the models are adopted effectively in decision making.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tek Raj Awasthi
- School of Health Medical and Applied Sciences, CQUniversity, Rockhampton North, QLD 4701, Australia; (T.W.); (D.L.S.)
| | - Ahsan Morshed
- School of Engineering and Technology, CQUniversity, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia;
| | - Thomas Williams
- School of Health Medical and Applied Sciences, CQUniversity, Rockhampton North, QLD 4701, Australia; (T.W.); (D.L.S.)
| | - Dave L. Swain
- School of Health Medical and Applied Sciences, CQUniversity, Rockhampton North, QLD 4701, Australia; (T.W.); (D.L.S.)
- TerraCipher, Alton Downs, QLD 4702, Australia
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Martha GB, Barioni LG, Santos PM, Maule RF, Moran D. Getting pastoral systems productivity right. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2024; 916:170268. [PMID: 38246390 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.170268] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2023] [Revised: 01/15/2024] [Accepted: 01/16/2024] [Indexed: 01/23/2024]
Abstract
Beef production in pasture-based systems is increasingly contested due to related biophysical and environmental challenges. Addressing these requires rigorous science-based evidence to inform private decisions and public policies. Increasing yields and simultaneously reducing the negative environmental impacts of agricultural and livestock production are central to sustainable intensification approaches. Yet, stocking rate, the commonly used metric for animal productivity in pastures, or more broadly, of sustainable intensification in pastoral production systems, warrants scrutiny to signpost successful transformative change of food systems and to avoid provision of misleading policy advice. Here we discuss why future studies would benefit of considering the two constituent elements of productivity in pastoral systems - animal performance (kg of animal product/head) and stocking rates (heads/ha) -, rather than stocking rates alone.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Geraldo B Martha
- Embrapa Digital Agriculture, Campinas, SP, Brazil; Graduate Program - Institute of Economics/Center for Studies in Applied, Agricultural and Environmental Economics (CEA), Unicamp - Campus Unicamp, Campinas, SP, Brazil.
| | | | | | - Rodrigo Fernando Maule
- Public Policy Group (GPP), "Luiz de Queiroz" College of Agriculture (Esalq), University of São Paulo (USP), Piracicaba, SP, Brazil
| | - Dominic Moran
- Global Academy of Agriculture and Food Security, University of Edinburgh, The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies and The Roslin Institute, Easter Bush Campus, Midlothian, UK
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Fernández PD, Gasparri NI, Rojas TN, Banegas NR, Nasca JA, Jobbágy EG, Kuemmerle T. Silvopastoral management for lowering trade-offs between beef production and carbon storage in tropical dry woodlands. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2024; 912:168973. [PMID: 38072278 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.168973] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2023] [Revised: 11/27/2023] [Accepted: 11/27/2023] [Indexed: 12/22/2023]
Abstract
Tropical dry woodlands and savannas harbour high levels of biodiversity and carbon, but are also important regions for agricultural production. This generates trade-offs between agriculture and the environment, as agricultural expansion and intensification typically involve the removal of natural woody vegetation. Cattle ranching is an expanding land use in many of these regions, but how different forms of ranching mediate the production/environment trade-off remains weakly understood. Here, we focus on the Argentine Chaco, to evaluate trade-offs between beef production and carbon storage in grazing systems with different levels of woody cover (n = 27). We measured beef productivity and carbon storage during 2018/19 and used a regression framework to quantify the trade-off between both, and to analyze which agroclimatic and management variables explain the observed trade-off. Our main finding was that silvopastures had the lowest trade-off between beef production and carbon storage, as management in these systems seeks to increase herbaceous forage by removing shrubs, while maintaining most of the bigger trees that contain most above-ground carbon. The most important variable explaining the beef production/carbon storage trade-off was pasture management, specifically the number of shrub encroachment control interventions, with a lower trade-off for higher numbers of interventions. Unfortunately, more interventions can also result in woody cover degradation over time, and shrub encroachment management must therefore be improved to become sustainable. Overall, our study highlights the strong environmental trade-offs associated with beef production in dry woodlands and savanna, but also the key role of good management practices in lowering this trade-off. Specifically, silvopastoral systems can increase beef production as much as converting woodlands to tree-less pastures, but silvopastures retain much more carbon in aboveground vegetation. Silvopastoral systems thus represent a promising land-use option to lower production/environment trade-offs in the Dry Chaco and likely many other tropical dry woodlands and savannas.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Pedro David Fernández
- Instituto de Investigación Animal del Chaco Semiárido, Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria, Chañar Pozo S/N, Leales 4113, Tucumán, Argentina; Geography Department, Humboldt-University Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, 10099 Berlin, Germany; Instituto de Ecología Regional, CONICET, Universidad Nacional de Tucumán, Casilla de Correo 34, 4107 Yerba Buena, Tucumán, Argentina.
| | - Nestor Ignacio Gasparri
- Instituto de Ecología Regional, CONICET, Universidad Nacional de Tucumán, Casilla de Correo 34, 4107 Yerba Buena, Tucumán, Argentina
| | - Tobias Nicolás Rojas
- Instituto de Ecología Regional, CONICET, Universidad Nacional de Tucumán, Casilla de Correo 34, 4107 Yerba Buena, Tucumán, Argentina
| | - Natalia Romina Banegas
- Instituto de Investigación Animal del Chaco Semiárido, Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria, Chañar Pozo S/N, Leales 4113, Tucumán, Argentina
| | - José Andrés Nasca
- Instituto de Investigación Animal del Chaco Semiárido, Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria, Chañar Pozo S/N, Leales 4113, Tucumán, Argentina
| | - Esteban Gabriel Jobbágy
- Grupo de Estudios Ambientales e IMASL, Universidad Nacional de San Luis, CONICET, Ejercito de los Andes 950, D5700HHW San Luis, Argentina
| | - Tobias Kuemmerle
- Geography Department, Humboldt-University Berlin, Unter den Linden 6, 10099 Berlin, Germany; Integrative Research Institute on Transformations in Human-Environment Systems (IRI THESys), Unter den Linden 6, 10099 Berlin, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Hassall KL, Coleman K, Dixit PN, Granger SJ, Zhang Y, Sharp RT, Wu L, Whitmore AP, Richter GM, Collins AL, Milne AE. Exploring the effects of land management change on productivity, carbon and nutrient balance: Application of an Ensemble Modelling Approach to the upper River Taw observatory, UK. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2022; 824:153824. [PMID: 35182632 PMCID: PMC9022088 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.153824] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2021] [Revised: 01/31/2022] [Accepted: 02/08/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Agriculture is challenged to produce healthy food and to contribute to cleaner energy whilst mitigating climate change and protecting ecosystems. To achieve this, policy-driven scenarios need to be evaluated with available data and models to explore trade-offs with robust accounting for the uncertainty in predictions. We developed a novel model ensemble using four complementary state-of-the-art agroecosystems models to explore the impacts of land management change. The ensemble was used to simulate key agricultural and environmental outputs under various scenarios for the upper River Taw observatory, UK. Scenarios assumed (i) reducing livestock production whilst simultaneously increasing the area of arable where it is feasible to cultivate (PG2A), (ii) reducing livestock production whilst simultaneously increasing bioenergy production in areas of the catchment that are amenable to growing bioenergy crops (PG2BE) and (iii) increasing both arable and bioenergy production (PG2A + BE). Our ensemble approach combined model uncertainty using the tower property of expectation and the law of total variance. Results show considerable uncertainty for predicted nutrient losses with different models partitioning the uncertainty into different pathways. Bioenergy crops were predicted to produce greatest yields from Miscanthus in lowland and from SRC-willow (cv. Endurance) in uplands. Each choice of management is associated with trade-offs; e.g. PG2A results in a significant increase of edible calories (6736 Mcal ha-1) but reduced soil C (-4.32 t C ha-1). Model ensembles in the agroecosystem context are difficult to implement due to challenges of model availability and input and output alignment. Despite these challenges, we show that ensemble modelling is a powerful approach for applications such as ours, offering benefits such as capturing structural as well as data uncertainty and allowing greater combinations of variables to be explored. Furthermore, the ensemble provides a robust means for combining uncertainty at different scales and enables us to identify weaknesses in system understanding.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kirsty L Hassall
- Computational and Analytical Sciences Department, Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, Hertfordshire AL5 2JQ, UK.
| | - Kevin Coleman
- Sustainable Agriculture Sciences Department, Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, Hertfordshire AL5 2JQ, UK.
| | - Prakash N Dixit
- Sustainable Agriculture Sciences Department, Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, Hertfordshire AL5 2JQ, UK.
| | - Steve J Granger
- Sustainable Agriculture Sciences department, Rothamsted Research, North Wyke, Oakhampton EX20 2SB, UK.
| | - Yusheng Zhang
- Sustainable Agriculture Sciences department, Rothamsted Research, North Wyke, Oakhampton EX20 2SB, UK.
| | - Ryan T Sharp
- Sustainable Agriculture Sciences Department, Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, Hertfordshire AL5 2JQ, UK.
| | - Lianhai Wu
- Sustainable Agriculture Sciences department, Rothamsted Research, North Wyke, Oakhampton EX20 2SB, UK.
| | - Andrew P Whitmore
- Sustainable Agriculture Sciences Department, Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, Hertfordshire AL5 2JQ, UK.
| | - Goetz M Richter
- Sustainable Agriculture Sciences Department, Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, Hertfordshire AL5 2JQ, UK.
| | - Adrian L Collins
- Sustainable Agriculture Sciences department, Rothamsted Research, North Wyke, Oakhampton EX20 2SB, UK.
| | - Alice E Milne
- Sustainable Agriculture Sciences Department, Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, Hertfordshire AL5 2JQ, UK.
| |
Collapse
|