Water Wheel March/April 2023: Water Use In Agriculture

Abstract

Study builds knowledge around more sustainable beef production At the start of 2022, a special group of young cattle, a combination of Ngunis, Bonsmaras and Simmentals, were delivered to the Animal Nutrition section of the Agricultural Research Council – Animal Production (ARC-AP) in Pretoria. Their home for the next five or so summer months were single feeding pens, a small simulation of a large and booming industry in South Africa – beef cattle feedlots. In South Africa, up to a 100 000 head of cattle can be kept in a feedlot, but the small group of 33 animals that spent the summer of ‘22 at the ARC helped examine a key question about this industry: how much water is used in the process? The answer is of national importance. Eighty per cent of the cattle herds in South Africa are for beef production (the remaining 20% is for dairy), and our appetite for it is growing, fueled by a growing population and expanding urbanisation. It is the second-fastest growing industry after poultry in our agricultural sector.

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