Beef Steer Rations

Methodology

Beef Steer Rations

We assume the mother cow of a young steer has a 10-year life and produces 8 calves during years 3-10 of her life. One of the calves is assumed to be her replacement, and the remaining 7 calves are raised for beef. The mother cow consumes 10 acres of pasture during her first two years, and we assume each cow-calf pair consumes 10 acres each of the 8 years thereafter. The equates to a total of 90 acres over the mother cow’s life, or about 13 acres for each calf that will eventually be slaughtered for beef. Therefore, in our calculations we assume each cow-calf pair is allotted 13 acres of pasture and that the pair consumes all 13 acres (Forero, Nader, Klonsky, and De Moura, 2008).

Shares of the beef steer feedlot ration including alfalfa, corn, and soybeans are multiplied by average daily pounds of feed consumed to find pounds of each feed consumed per day (Moller, 2015; Werth, 2015). This is then multiplied by the number of days on that feed ration to find total pounds of each feed consumed over the life of the animal.

We assume the pasture phase lasts from 100-900 lbs. or 365 days, and the feedlot phase lasts from 900-1400 lbs. or 180 days (Cattlemen’s Beef Board and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association).

Dairy Cow Rations

Shares of the dairy cow feed ration including alfalfa hay, other hay, corn silage, other silage, and all other are multiplied by average daily pounds of each feed consumed for the respective dry and lactating phases of the cow’s life (CDFA, 2015; Bovine Alliance on Management and Nutrition, 2003). For simplification, we treat the all other category as 75% corn and 25% soybeans.

We assume each cow spends the equivalent of 651 days as a dry milking cow and 900 days as a lactating milking cow (Adams, Hutchinson, and Ishler). See excel file for details on how equivalent days were calculated.

Water Use of California-Grown Crops

For California-grown crop examples, we use total evapotranspiration (acre-feet/acre) from statewide evapotranspiration estimates (California Department of Water Resources, 2010).

Typical yields (tons/acre) were taken from UC Davis cost studies for broccoli (Dara, Klonsky, and Tumber, 2012), almonds(Duncan, Verdegaal, Holtz, Doll, Klonsky, and De Moura, 2011), corn silage (Frate, Marsh, Klonsky, and De Moura, 2012), processing tomatoes (Miyao, Aegerter, Klonsky, and Stewart, 2014), and alfalfa hay (Putnam, Long, Leinfelder-Miles, Klonsky, and Stewart, 2014). Typical yield for winegrapes was taken from Lapsley and Sumner’s draft of “Water into Wine.”

Evapotranspiration was divided by yield to find acre-feet of water used per ton of crop.

Evapotranspiration / Yield = Water Use per Ton of Crop

(acre-ft./acre) /(tons/acre) = (acre-ft./ton)

For vegetable serving examples, water use per ton of crop was manipulated to derive the water use in gallons for a particular serving (Self NutritionData).

For beef steer and dairy cow examples, estimated rations for hay and silage over the life of the animal (tons) were divided by typical yields (tons/acre) to find total acres of feed consumed. This was then multiplied by evapotranspiration of the crop (acre-ft./acre) to find total acre-ft. of feed water use over the animal’s life. This and other sources of water use were then summed and manipulated using assumptions on how much meat or milk the animal produces in its life to find water use for a particular serving of meat or dairy product (CDFA).

[Total Feed / Yield] * Evapotranspiration = Water Use of Feed over Life of Animal

[tons / (tons/acre)] * (acre-ft./acre) = acre-ft.

We assume each dairy cow produces 7,118 gallons of milk in its life and each 1,400 lb. steer carcass produces 1,000 lbs. of meat (Purdue University Food Animal Education Network; Holland, Loveday, and Ferguson, 2014).

Water Use of Crops Grown Outside California

For corn and soybeans grown outside California, we use total water footprint (acre-ft./ton) that includes blue, green, and grey water (Mekonnen and Hoekstra, 2011). This was multiplied by estimated tonnage of feed consumed over the animal’s life to find total acre-ft. of feed water use over the animal’s life. This and other sources of water use were then summed and manipulated using assumptions on how much meat or milk the steer or dairy cow produces in its life to find the water use of a particular serving of meat or dairy product (Self NutritionData).

Water Footprint per Ton * Total Feed = Water Use of Feed over Life of Animal

(acre-ft./ton) * tons = acre-ft.

Water Use of Rain-Fed Pasture

We multiply estimated acre-feet of rainfall over the 365-day pasture phase by the number of acres of pasture consumed by each cow-calf pair to find water use of consumed pasture.

Drinking Water

For beef steers and dairy cows we multiply the average gallons of drinking water consumed per day in each phase of the cow’s life by the respective number of days in that phase (Gadberry; Falk; Looper and Waldner, 2002).

Processing and Waste Water

For a beef steer, we include the average gallons of water used to process one carcass in a typical commercial beef processing plant in the total water use of one animal (Beckett and Oltjen, 1993).

For a dairy cow, we multiply the averagenumber of gallons of dairy wastewater used per day over the life of the cow and include this in the total water use of the animal (Safferman, 2008).

Sources

Adams, R. S., Hutchinson, L. J., and Ishler, V. A. Troubleshooting Problems with Low Milk Production. Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences.

Beckett, J. L. and Oltjen J. W. (1993). Estimation of the water requirement for beef production in the United States. Journal of Animal Science 71:818-826.

Bovine Alliance on Management and Nutrition. (2003). A Guide to Dairy Calf Feeding and Management: Optimizing Rumen Development and Effective Weaning.

Buchanan, L., Keller, J. and Park, H. (2015). Your Contribution to the California Drought.The New York Times.

California Department of Food and Agriculture. (2015). 2013-2015 Holstein Feed Summary Excel File.

California Department of Food and Agriculture. (2015). 2013-2015 Jersey Feed Summary Excel File.

California Department of Food and Agriculture. (2015). California Agricultural Statistics Review.

California Department of Food and Agriculture.California Milk Pricing Formulas.

California Department of Water Resources.2010 Annual Land & Water Use Estimates.

Cattlemen’s Beef Board and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association. (2009). Modern Beef Production.

Dara, S.K., Klonsky, K.M. and Tumber, K.P. (2012). Sample Costs to Produce Fresh Market Broccoli: Central Coast Region – San Luis Obispo County. University of California Cooperative Extension, Department of Agriculture and Resource Economics.

Decker, C. (June 10, 2015).Crisis or not? Jerry Brown avoids offering stern advice on drought. Los Angeles Times.

Duncan, R. A., Verdegaal, P. S., Holtz, B. A., Doll, D. A., Klonsky, K. A., De Moura, R. L. (2011). Sample Costs to Establish an Orchard and Produce Almonds: San Joaquin Valley North, Micro Sprinkler Irrigation.

Falk, D.E. Fresh Water Needs for Dairy Farms. The University of Idaho OnePlan.

Forero, L.C., Nader, G.A., Klonsky, K.M. and De Moura, R.L. (2008). Sample Costs for Beef Cattle Cow-Calf Production, Sacramento Valley.University of California Cooperative Extension, Department of Agriculture and Resource Economics.

Frate, C.A., Marsh, B.H., Klonsky, K.M. and De Moura, R.L. (2012). Sample Costs to Produce Corn Silage in the San Joaquin Valley South, Double Cropped Planting. University of California Cooperative Extension, Department of Agriculture and Resource Economics.

Gadberry, S. Water for Beef Cattle. University of Arkansas Agriculture and Natural Resources.

Holland, R., Loveday, D., and Ferguson, K. (2014). How Much Meat to Expect from a Beef Carcass.The University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture.

Kim, K., Schleuss, J. and Krishnakumar, P. (2015). 748 gallons of water were used to make this plate. Los Angeles Times.

Lapsley, J. and Sumner, D. “Water into Wine” Draft paper.

Looper, M.L. and Waldner, D.N. (February 2002).Water for Dairy Cattle.New Mexico State University Cooperative Extension Service, College of Agriculture and Home Economics.

Mekonnen, M.M. and Hoekstra, A.Y. (2011). The green, blue and grey water footprint of crops and derived crop products. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 15(5): 1577-1600.

Miyao, G., Aegerter, B., Klonsky, K. and Stewart, D. (2014). Sample Costs to Produce Processing Tomatoes: Sub-Surface, Drip Irrigated (SDI) in the Sacramento Valley and Northern Delta. University of California Cooperative Extension, Department of Agriculture and Resource Economics.

Moller, J. (July 14, 2015). "California Feedlot Ration." Message to the author. E-mail.

Purdue University Food Animal Education Network. Dairy Facts.

Putnam, D., Long, R., Leinfelder-Miles, M., Klonsky, K., Stewart, D. (2014). Sample Costs to Establish and Produce Alfalfa Hay in the Sacramento Valley and Northern Delta. University of California Cooperative Extension, Department of Agriculture and Resource Economics.

Safferman, S. (2008). Milking Facility Wash Water: Facts and Figures. Michigan Dairy Review.

Self NutritionData. Nutrition Facts.

Sumner, D. Author Estimates.

Werth, S. (July 13, 2015). "California Feedlot Ration." Message to the author. E-mail.