The productivity and environmental impact of an innovative quality-oriented production system for beef products derived from offspring of the organic dairy sector

TY - JOUR

T1 - The productivity and environmental impact of an innovative quality-oriented production system for beef products derived from offspring of the organic dairy sector

AU - Kristensen, T.

AU - Mogensen, L.

AU - Therkildsen, M.

AU - Andersen, B. V.

AU - Christiansen, I. A.

AU - Jørgensen, K. F.

AU - Kramer, C.

AU - Vestergaard, M.

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

PY - 2025

Y1 - 2025

N2 - This study aims at developing an innovative organic beef production system that generates a variety of beef products derived from male offspring of dairy cows. The system must ensure high and consistent meat quality, enhance consumer satisfaction and support a compelling narrative, involving calves raised with foster cows on pasture, followed by grazing on permanent grasslands post-weaning. The average carbon footprint of the three beef products was 18.6 kg CO2-eq/kg of carcass. Consequently, consumers would need to eat 57 g of beef or less from this system to match the carbon footprint of 100 g of conventionally, intensively produced beef. The hypothesis is that consumers, due to the overall concept of this system, will reduce their overall meat consumption–embracing a ‘less is more’ approach–to offset the higher climate impact per kg of beef associated with this organic system compared to more intensively produced conventional beef.

AB - This study aims at developing an innovative organic beef production system that generates a variety of beef products derived from male offspring of dairy cows. The system must ensure high and consistent meat quality, enhance consumer satisfaction and support a compelling narrative, involving calves raised with foster cows on pasture, followed by grazing on permanent grasslands post-weaning. The average carbon footprint of the three beef products was 18.6 kg CO2-eq/kg of carcass. Consequently, consumers would need to eat 57 g of beef or less from this system to match the carbon footprint of 100 g of conventionally, intensively produced beef. The hypothesis is that consumers, due to the overall concept of this system, will reduce their overall meat consumption–embracing a ‘less is more’ approach–to offset the higher climate impact per kg of beef associated with this organic system compared to more intensively produced conventional beef.

KW - biodiversity

KW - carbon footprint

KW - foster cow

KW - grass-fed

KW - land use

KW - Life cycle assessment (LCA)

KW - male calves

KW - organic dairy

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105019689487

U2 - 10.1080/09064702.2025.2562029

DO - 10.1080/09064702.2025.2562029

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:105019689487

SN - 0906-4702

JO - Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica - Section A: Animal Science

JF - Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica - Section A: Animal Science

ER -