The sustainable use of water, or any other natural resource for that matter, is not the only factor that should be considered in terms of sustainability, as social equity and economic prosperity are equally important. The objective of this study was to analyse different breeds of beef cattle, following the same production method, in terms of their water footprint and economic value addition for different links in the value chain. A bottom-up approach was applied to identify the breed with the best economic water consumption in terms of beef production. The results indicated that the total WF/kg carcass revealed notable differences between the various breeds. The Bonsmara had the smallest WF/kg carcass, while the Limousin had the largest. The WF/kg of beef for the different cuts (rib eye, topside, and flank) showed large variations between the breeds and between the different cuts of beef from the same breed. In terms of the economic water consumption, the Angus consumed between 4% and 25% less water per rand of economic value addition than the Bonsmara, Simmentaler, Simbra, Limousin, Afrikaner, and Brahman. When the economic water consumption of the individual value links was considered, it was found that Bonsmara had the best figures for cow–calf production, while the Limousin and Simmentaler were the best in terms of feedlot finishing and processing, respectively. These contradicting results showed the importance of a bottom-up approach to ensure that the fallacy of division does not occur and, secondly, that possible problem areas in the value chain are identified and addressed separately.

中文翻译：

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不同牛种生产的牛肉的水经济关系

水或任何其他自然资源的可持续利用并不是可持续性方面应考虑的唯一因素，因为社会公平和经济繁荣同等重要。本研究的目的是分析采用相同生产方法的不同品种肉牛在价值链中不同环节的水足迹和经济附加值。应用自下而上的方法来确定在牛肉生产方面具有最佳经济用水量的品种。结果表明，总 WF/kg 胴体显示不同品种之间存在显着差异。Bonsmara 的 WF/kg 胴体最小，而 Limousin 最大。不同部位的 WF/kg 牛肉（肋眼、上层、和侧翼）在品种之间以及同一品种的不同牛肉块之间显示出很大差异。就经济用水量而言，安格斯每兰特经济附加值的用水量比 Bonsmara、Simmentaler、Simbra、Limousin、Afrikaner 和 Brahman 少 4% 到 25%。当考虑各个价值环节的经济用水量时，发现 Bonsmara 的牛犊生产数据最好，而 Limousin 和 Simmentaler 分别在饲养场整理和加工方面最好。这些相互矛盾的结果表明了自下而上方法的重要性，以确保不发生分裂谬误，其次，价值链中可能存在的问题领域被确定并单独解决。