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The results show that, at the farm level, systems producing both beef and milk or cereals have higher Human Edible Protein (HEP) and Human Edible Energy ( HEE)  production per hectare (up to 370 kg of HEP and 60000 10⁶J.ha^-1) than specialized beef systems (up to 50 kg of HEP and 1600 10⁶J.ha^-1)

Beef systems are almost all HEE net consumers. Results are more variable concerning net HEP efficiency. The cow-calf enterprises are mostly net producers of HEP but, in order to produce human edible meat, these systems need to be combined with finishing systems that are mostly net consumers of HEP. In most cases, cow-calf-finishing systems are net consumers of HEP (between 0.6 and 0.7) but grass-based systems using very little concentrates or systems using co-products not edible by humans are net HEP producers.

The grass-based systems use more land area per kilogram of carcass but a major part of this area is non-tilled land, thus these systems are not in direct competition with human food production. The lowest meat production costs are the finishing systems producing the most live weight per livestock unit (LU) per year and dairy systems in lowland which share the costs between milk and meat.

 Table: Indicator of competition for agricultural land use and production costs.

Notes: TL and nTL: Tillable and non-Tillable Land in and out of farm; M_Cost meat production cost, F_HEP_cost and F_HEE_cost production costs of Human Edible Protein and Energy at farm gate. na: not available

Due to its extensive system of production and very low feeding costs, the Irish IR-CCF is also one of the most competitive. Feed costs of all systems are higher in Germany and Belgium than in France and Ireland, due to their higher stocking rate which reduces their feed sufficiency. The French and Irish systems are more self-contained feed-wise, but the lower feed purchases are partially offset by higher mechanisation costs partly due to multiple grass harvests.

SIGNIFICANCE

Although most of HEE and HEP efficient farms typically have higher meat production costs, some grassland based systems stand out positively for all indicators. These results pave the way for improvements of the contribution of beef production systems to food security.