Net Conversion of Human-Edible Vitamins and Minerals in the U.S. Southern Great Plains Beef Production System

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Beef production is often viewed as a waste of human-edible food, but overall beef cattle consume primarily feedstuffs nonedible by humans. Previous analyses indicate that the current beef production system is a positive net contributor of high quality protein to the human diet. However, beef provides several important nutrients besides protein: iron, zinc, selenium, phosphorus, vitamin B12, vitamin B6, riboflavin, niacin, and choline. The goal of the current study was to calculate the net nutrient conversion ratio of a beef production system to supply these nutrients to the human diet. The amount of human-absorbable nutrient consumption by beef cattle was calculated as well as the amount of human-absorbable nutrient produced in beef products. The net nutrient conversion ratio was computed as the ratio of nutrient production to nutrient consumption with a value greater than one being a positive net contribution to the human diet. The Southern Great Plains beef production system is a positive net contributor of human-absorbable iron, phosphorus, riboflavin, niacin, and choline to the human diet. Further analysis demonstrates that the amount of corn grain, the primary human-edible feedstuff, consumed by cattle during the feedlot phase is an important indicator of the net nutrient contribution of the beef production system. ABSTRACT: Beef is a good source of several vitamins and minerals but data on the net contribution to the human diet is lacking. The objective was to quantify the net nutrient contribution of the beef supply chain to provide vitamins and minerals to the human diet. Beef cattle production parameters for the beef supply chain were as described by Baber et al., 2018 with the red and organ meat yield from each production segment estimated using literature values of serially-harvested beef cattle. Nutrient concentration of feeds was acquired from feed composition tables in nutrient requirement texts, and the nutrient concentration of beef and organ meats was based on 2018 USDA Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies. The nutrient absorption coefficients of feeds, red meat, and organs were acquired from the literature. The human-edible conversion ratio was >1.0 for phosphorus when only red meat yield was considered indicating that the beef supply chain produced more human-edible phosphorus than it consumed. When organ meats were included, riboflavin, niacin, choline, and phosphorus had conversion ratios >1.0. After adjusting for the absorption of nutrients, the beef supply chain was a net contributor of niacin and phosphorus in the human diet when accounting for red meat yield only, but when including organ meats, iron, riboflavin, and choline also had conversion ratios >1.0. The maximum proportion of corn in the corn grain plus distillers’ grains component of the feedlot diets for the absorbable conversion ratio to be ≥1 ranged from 8.34 to 100.00% when only red meat yield was considered and from 32.02 to 100.00% when red and organ meats were considered. In conclusion, the current beef production system in the Southern Great Plains produces more human-absorbable iron, phosphorus, riboflavin, niacin, and choline to the human diet than is consumed in the beef supply chain.