Estimates of global population growth are often cited as a significant challenge for global food production. It is estimated that by 2050 there will be approximately two- billion additional people on earth, with the greatest proportion of that growth occurring in central Africa. To meet recommended future protein needs (60 g/d), approximately 120 million kg of protein must be produced daily. The production of ruminant meat (particularly beef cattle) offers the potential to aid in reaching increased global protein needs. However, advancements in beef cattle production are necessary to secure the industry’s future sustainability. This article draws attention to a subset of sustainable beef cattle production challenges, including the role of ruminant livestock in meeting global human protein needs, the environmental relationships of advanced beef cattle production, and big data and machine learning in beef cattle production. Considering the significant quantities of resources necessary to produce this form of protein, such advancements are not just a moral imperative but critical to developing advanced beef cattle production practices and predictive models that will reduce costs and liabilities and advance industry sustainability.

Winter grazing can help reduce the need for purchased feeds in livestock production systems, when finishing cattle on pasture. Our objective was to evaluate the influence of stocking density and grazing stockpiled forage on performance of yearling steers during winter. Three grasslands were winter grazed for two years: I, naturalized pastureland, and II and III, sown and managed for hay production during the growing season but grazed in winter. Two stocking densities were used: low 7.41 and high 12.35 steers ha⁻¹. Herbage mass was estimated before and after each grazing event, and disappearance (consumption, weathering, and trampling) was the difference between both. Forage mass and residual differed by stocking density (SD), year (YR), and grazing interval (GI), and disappearance differed by YR and GI. Grass and dead constituents of botanical composition differed by YR and GI. No differences were found for legumes and forbs. CP differed by YR and GI, and NDF and ADF differed only by YR. Steer average daily gain was 0.15 kg d⁻¹in 2011 and 0.68 kg d⁻¹in 2012 and varied by YR and GI. Acceptable gains in 2012 may be a product of environmental conditions that influenced herbage mass and nutritive value during stockpile and animal behavior during winter.

Concerns about water availability, quality and accessibility have intensified. The livestock industry, particularly the beef sector, is under pressure to adopt more sustainable practices that optimize water usage while improving growth and feed efficiency. The objective of this study was to estimate the genetic parameters of traits associated with water efficiency, feed efficiency and growth in beef cattle. The data were collected from 916 seedstock bulls and heifers representing six breeds (Angus, Charolais, Hereford, Limousin, Simmental and Sim-Angus) in a facility equipped with Vytelle SENSE feed intake, water intake and in-pen body weight recording systems, located at the West Virginia University central testing facility in Wardensville, WV. The animals were part of six performance tests between November 2019 and September 2022, with an average age at the start of the test of 284 days, and an average test duration of 73 days. The rations were formulated to achieve 1.5 to 1.6 kg/d ADG (depending on the test) and had a high forage inclusion (>75% corn silage and >15% dry hay, as fed). The facility consists of 5 pens and animals were rotated every two weeks through the pens, so all animals are exposed to all pens. The phenotypes analyzed were average daily water intake (DWI), residual water intake (RWI), average daily dry matter intake (DMI), residual feed intake (RFI), and average daily gain (ADG). RWI and RFI were used to measure the water and feed efficiency of the animals. The genetic parameters were estimated with multi-trait animal models using Echidna mixed model software. In all models, breed, sex and the contemporary group (trial number and pen group) were included as fixed effects, the age at the start of the test was added as a covariate, and the animal was treated as a random effect. RWI and RFI were analyzed by adding ADG and metabolic mid-weight as additional covariates. The estimates of heritability for DWI, RWI, DMI, RFI and ADG were 0.49 (± 0.11), 0.40 (± 0.10), 0.35 (± 0.11), 0.16 (± 0.07) and 0.47 (± 0.11) respectively. Average daily water intake exhibited a positive genetic correlation with RWI (0.90), DMI (0.71), and ADG (0.76). On the other hand, the genetic correlation between RWI and RFI was not significantly different from zero, and genetic correlation between RWI and ADG was slightly positive. These results suggest that selecting for enhanced water efficiency in beef cattle can effectively decrease the daily water consumption without any adverse effect on feed efficiency, although it may have a small impact on growth. The complete genetic and phenotypic correlations are in Table 1. In conclusion, the traits associated with water intake and efficiency in beef cattle have a sizable genetic component and show potential for genetic improvement.

Variation in individual animal feed intake is influenced by factors such as bunk management, digestive physiology, social hierarchy, and health status. While previous research has primarily examined feeding behavior in cattle offered high-concentrate diets, limited information exists regarding these relationships in high-forage systems. Residual Feed Intake (RFI), defined as the difference between an animal’s actual and expected feed intake based on metabolic mid-test body weight and average daily gain, serves as a key measure of feed efficiency. Animals with negative RFI values are classified as more efficient, whereas those with positive values are less efficient. This study investigated associations between feeding behavior and feed efficiency in yearling purebred Angus bulls (n = 232) and heifers (n = 58) consuming forage-based diets using a Vytelle feeding system. Upon arrival, bulls averaged 350.3 ± 3.6 kg and heifers averaged 287.5 ± 5.0 kg, with a subsequent 14-day acclimation followed by a 49-day ad libitum feeding period. In bulls, RFI was positively correlated with bunk visits (r = 0.34, p < 0.0001) and negatively correlated with duration (r = −0.16, p = 0.0124). In heifers, daily visits were negatively correlated with intake (r = −0.88, p < 0.0001), and RFI was negatively associated with RADG (r = −0.53, p < 0.0001).