197 Smart Foodscapes: Developing Functional Landscapes to Enhance the Sustainability Livestock Production Systems

Abstract

Abstract Approximately six million beef calves are produced annually in the western U.S. alone, and ranchers must maintain profitable operations while addressing the growing number of consumers seeking environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable food. In response to these concerns, a diversity of deep-rooted perennial legumes and forbs with high nutrient content and the presence of functional biochemicals (e.g., phenolics, terpenoids) are proposed to be grown and stockpiled in “islands” across the landscape. These islands are then used as low-cost supplementation for beef cattle to enhance productivity and biodiversity while reducing environmental impacts. Thus, smart foodscapes emerge through landscape interventions that promote the establishment of resource patches that enhance cowherd health and decrease nitrogen and methane emissions to the atmosphere. In addition, the approach offers stakeholders adaptability to face not only uncertainties in forage productivity and feeding value caused by climate change, but also a tool to increase landscape connectivity and structural complexity in rangelands, enhancing ecosystem biodiversity and resilience.