Strategies to enhance cow-calf production efficiency in subtropical/tropical environments
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abstract
World food production will have to increase in 70% by 2050 to feed an additional 2.3 billion people. Beef consumption will also double by 2050, from 60 mi to 130 mi tons. However, as the planet becomes more populated and urbans areas expand, resources for beef production will become even more limited. Therefore, production efficiency will have to increase dramatically during the next decades to attend the global beef demand while maintaining ecological stewardship and proper use of limited natural resources. Much of this increase in beef production are expected to come from subtropical/tropical regions of the planet, which contains nearly 70% of the world's cattle population. These regions includes not only Texas and southeastern US, but also Mexico, Central/South America, Africa, Asia, and Oceania. Cow-calf production systems are the foundation for the US and worldwide beef industries by determining the amount of cattle available for harvest. Therefore, the aforesaid increase in beef production will depend on the cow-calf industry's capacity in generating enough feeder calves for subsequent growth and slaughter. Given that the world beef cow population will be limited by the availability of natural resources, the most practical alternative to substantially increase cow-calf productivity during the next decades is to exploit the ability of beef females to generate one calf annually. Accordingly, the long-term goal of this research program is to elaborate sustainable management strategies that enhance reproductive efficiency of beef females within cow-calf systems, particularly those located in subtropical/tropical environments
