Cattle meat (Oksekød)

Danish cattle meat is produced by slaughtering and cutting cattle produced in dairy farms. The cattle meat production is regulated by milk production which is in turn regulated by milk quotas. Hence, cattle meat production is independent of the market demand and environmental impacts associated with a demand for cattle meat is determined by the products the cattle meat displace in the market.

It has been assumed (Weidema, 2003) that cheap cattle meat (< 101 DKK per kg) displaces cheap pig meat (< 101 DKK per kg) whereas expensive cattle meat (> 101 DKK per kg) displaces imported cattle meat produced in extensive farms abroad. Approximate cattle meat prices are provided in the table below.

The main processes influenced by a demand for expensive cattle meat are shown in the figure below, exemplified with tenderloin. Due to lack of data, cattle meat production in Denmark (Farm type 23) has been used to represented cattle meat production at extensive farms abroad.

Bread wheat, pork and a number of other products are produced at Farm type 23. Environmental impacts associated with theses products have been eliminated by system expansion, explaining the green lines to bread wheat and pork.

Slaughterhouse waste (bones, intestines etc.) is converted into bone and blood meal etc. The products were previously used as ingredient in animal feed but are presently incinerated due to fear of BSE ("mad cow disease"). The contributions to global warming from these processes are too small to be included in the above diagram.

The value of different parts of the cattle varies and the environmental impacts associated with each type of cattle meat has been determined by price allocation, see Weidema (2003).

The potential environmental impacts associated with various classes of expensive cattle meat (> 100 DKK per kg) in the present market situation with milk quotas¹⁾ are provided in the tables below. All data are provided per kg of cattle meat.
 

Tenderloin (mørbrad)

Fillet (fillet)

Top round (Okseinderlår)

Steak (tyksteg)

Foreend (bov)

Outside (Okseyderlår)

Impact category	Unit	Ex slaughterhouse		Ex retail
		Conventional	Organic	Conventional	Organic
Global warming	g CO2-eq.	2230		2230
Acidification	g SO2-eq.	225		225
Nutrient enrichment	g NO3-eq.	2110		2110
Photochemical smog	g ethene eq.	4.6		4.7
Land use	m2 year	30		30

Location in database: Material/Food from industry/from Slaughterhouses/Beef outside (Okseyderlår) and Material/Food from supermarket/Cooling counter/Beef outside (Okseyderlår), fresh in supermarket

Flanchet (Okseflanchet)

Impact category	Unit	Ex slaughterhouse		Ex retail
		Conventional	Organic	Conventional	Organic
Global warming	g CO2-eq.	2240		2240
Acidification	g SO2-eq.	225		226
Nutrient enrichment	g NO3-eq.	2110		2110
Photochemical smog	g ethene eq.	4.6		4.7
Land use	m2 year	30		30

Location in database: Material/Food from industry/from Slaughterhouses/Beef flanchet (Okseflanchet) and Material/Food from supermarket/Cooling counter/Beef flanchet (Okseflanchet), fresh in supermarket

Round (Okseklump)

Minched meat (Oksesmåkød og div.)

Knuckle shank (Okseskank)

Weidema B (2003). Market information in life cycle assessments. Technical report, Danish Environmental Protection Agency (Environmental Project no. 863).

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1) It has been assumed that cattle production in Denmark is determined by the milk production also if the milk quotas are removed. Thus, the environmental impacts associated with cattle production are the same in an envisioned market situation without milk quotas.