Backgrounding strategy effects on farm productivity, profitability and greenhouse gas emissions of cow-calf systems in the Flooding Pampas of Argentina

Beef grazing systems need to improve their environmental sustainability while increasing productivity to meet future demand. In a context of climate and prices variability, the main aim of our study was to explore the current trend in cow-calf operations of including backgrounding strategies on productivity, profitability and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in a representative beef cattle system from the Laprida Basin (Flooding Pampas, Argentina), applying an integrated assessment with modelling tools. The mean liveweight gain (LWG) of pure cow-calf systems was lower than systems that included backgrounding, it decreased as stocking rates (SR) increased, and it was increased when the stocker contribution (0.2 to 0.4 steer/cow rate), sales weights (steers 390 kg LW and heifers 320 kg LW) and supplementation level (> 1% LW) were higher. Liveweight production and operating profits showed a curvilinear response to SR, reaching a plateau close to 0.5 cows ha(-1). As expected, GHG emissions intensity (EI; kg CO(2)e kg(-1) LW produced) was higher in pure cow-calf scenarios. If a grazing intensity (i.e. ratio between biomass removed by grazing and biomass available for grazing) beyond 0.6 was to be avoided to prevent long-term overgrazing and trade-offs among the variables assessed, the best option was to decrease SR to 0.45 cows ha(-1). On such stocking rate, LWG was improved by 8% (+/- SD; +/- 3%), but LW production, operating profits, and GHG emissions intensity were reduced by 1% (+/- 2%), 9% (+/- 4%) and 10% (+/- 1%), respectively, compared with 0.50 cows ha(-1). The best risk-efficient combinations were depicted by backgrounding options and the variation of profit was mainly explained by prices variability (CV = 40 +/- 3%) and, to a lesser extent by climate variability (CV = 11 +/- 3%). Therefore, backgrounding strategies provide opportunities to farmers to increase farm productivity and profitability at the lowest risk for a given level of expected return, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions per unit of product.