Life Cycle Analysis of Pasture Based Beef Production Systems

The project: Pasture based beef production has been perceived as extensive, inefficient and polluting. Comparisons with intensive indoor production have been made suggesting a significant improvement in efficiency and subsequently reduction in greenhouse gases per kg of product produced. However these comparisons are not balanced as they do not take into account the total life cycle analysis (LCA) of production e.g. carbon cost of imported feed or the ecosystem services of pastoral systems. Intensive pastoral systems can provide a high level of production of higher value product (vitamins, fatty acid composition and retail shelf life). The industry needs clear data on the impact and value of pastoral systems to cement the place of beef production from pasture into the road map of global food security. This PhD project will address this by evaluating three different intensive pastoral systems for environmental, production and quality of product parameters. The position also includes the opportunity to work within a US/UK funded project on sustainability of beef production, spending time in the US working on LCA of beef grazing prairie grasses.

The work will be carried out using the North Wyke Farm Platform (where the student will be based), which provides three hydrologically-isolated farming systems, based on improved sward management by either: a) fertilisation; b) introduction of clover; c) novel grass varieties. Soil measurements for C-sequestration and meteorological data on each farm will be available as part of existing research at North Wyke. Each farm will carry its own herd of yearling cattle. Animal performance will be measured in addition to methane assessment and final product quality. This approach will give a detailed assessment of the flux of nutrients and level of production for each pastoral system at a level never achieved before and will then be used to develop detailed LCA of beef production from the three systems.

Candidate requirements: The student should have an Animal, Veterinary Science or Agriculture Related degree at first or upper second class (2:1). Experience of the Beef industry in the UK and an interest in all aspects of sustainable livestock production are desirable. Understanding the issues relating to livestock production and environmental pollution are also desirable.

Please make an online application for this project at http://www.bris.ac.uk/pg-howtoapply. Please select ‘Faculty of Medical and Veterinary Sciences’ and then ‘Veterinary Science (PhD)’ on the Programme Choice page and enter details of the studentship when prompted in the Funding and Research Details sections of the form.

For further information contact Dr Michael Lee e-mail [Email Address Removed]. Tel. 0117 331 9308.

Deadline for applications: 1st February, with Interviews planned for the week commencing 1st March, with an expected start date of 1st April 2015 (some flexibility).