Systems Assessment of Beef Sustainability

Assessment of sustainability of a system is largely a forecasting problem, in which the likelihood of system persistence must be evaluated. The use of systems thinking and systems analysis provides useful mechanisms for assessing sustainability in complex food animal production systems. Importantly, evaluation of the system also aids in the identification of variables highly correlated to persistence and ratios among stocks and outputs that can be useful for management. The complexity of the systems makes linear assessment of sustainability from gross resource use indicators tenuous, and likely to lead to false inference. Development of a framework for indicator development and assessment is critical to avoid unintended consequences of inadequate forecasts.