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20 innovations to reduce feed-food competition in beef production systems have been identified through literature review, including grey literature, and interviews of experts. These innovations aimed at :

• 1) improving the use and management of grass and fodders by increasing the grazing efficiency (cattle fattening on pastures, fast rotational grazing), adapting animals to pastures (crossbreeding spring calving),  improving forage quality (alfalfa and red clover, hay dired in barn) and introducing human non edible fodder from cropping systems (cover crops for fodder, intergrated crop-livestock systems),
• 2) replacing concentrate with by-product by using new by-products (oil seed cakes in animal feeding, dried stoned olive pomace, whey), and by improving the conservation of by product ( local pulps and by- product in a single silo),
• 3) limiting meat production to non-competitive feed (ecological leftover),
• 4) inserting alternative feed products in the cattle diet (insect, algae),
• 5) acting on feed efficiency (genomic selection, precision livestock feeding),
• 6) optimizing existing agro systems (genomic selection, terminal cross breeding, agroforestry).

For each innovation, a table was filled with a description of the innovation, condition of application, expected performance, barriers and drawbacks, levers, advantages, innovations's region and reference. They are compiled in deliverable 4.1 that can be downloaded below. 

10 focus groups have been organized with breeders and advisors in the different countries/ regions surveyed in order to have stakeholders’ perception about these innovations. The focus was  on the factors, at farm, territorial or value chain scales, limiting or promoting the uptake of the innovations. The most relevant innovations identified were: 

- in Lorraine (France): 1) Precision livestock farming, 2) Genomic selection (milk production of suckler cows), 3) Alfalfa and red clover as protein supplements in rations for young beef cattle and 4) Crossbreeding(e.g. Angus X Salers), New sources of proteins (insects, algae), Hay dried in barn

- in Creuse (France): 1) Genomic selection for feed efficiency, 2)new plant species for pastures, 3) Fast rotational grazing and restructuring of the plots of land and 4) Use of by-products, Agroforestry, 

- in Cantal (France): 1) Cattle fattening on pasture, 2) Fast rotational grazing, 3) Genomic selection for feed efficiency, 4) Use of by-products, Precision livestock farming

- Veneto (Italy): 1) New sources of proteins (insects, algae), 2) Precision livestock farming, 3)Production of fodders through cover crops, 4)Genomic selection for food efficiency of milkj production of suckler cows, Use of by-products or crossbreeding

- Wallonia (Belgium): 1) Alfalfa and red clover as protein supplements in rations for young beef cattle, 2) Production of fodder through cover crops, 3) Cattle fattening on pasture, 4) Fast rotational grazing or Integrated crop-livestock system

Some focus groups were also organized with the value chain. The participants had to choose the innovations they could support in the frame of their activity within the value chain. The innovations that had the most supports were :

-genomic selection,

-new by-products (brewery dregs)

-grass fattening,

-dynamic rotational grazing,

-terminal crossbreeding with beef breed on dairy herd,

-precision livestock farming (infra-red analysis of fodder and connected herbometer) 

-integrated crop-livestock systems.

Methodology and results are detailed in deliverable 4.2 that can be downloaded below.