The U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (USRSB) concluded its second annual General Assembly meeting this week. This year’s meeting focused on reviewing accomplishments over the past year, aligning to a work plan for the coming year and approval of a strategic plan for the future which will guide the group’s efforts to improve beef sustainability moving forward.

“We had about 150 participants here for this year’s meeting, so we’re very pleased with the turnout and engagement for advancing the USRSB efforts,” said USRSB Chairman John Butler, a cattle producer from Kansas. “Each of the stakeholder groups were well represented. During this first year we’ve accomplished two key goals. We approved a strategic plan which provides a roadmap for the future and will guide our efforts for the next couple of years.”

One of this year’s key developments for USRSB was the creation of high priority sustainability indicators for the beef industry. Six priority indicators of sustainability were determined in areas such as water resources and animal care. The indicators allow the beef value chain to benchmark its efforts, and help focus individual sustainability efforts in order to continually advance beef’s sustainability.

All six key areas also align with the beef checkoff-funded beef industry lifecycle assessment, so much of the initial benchmarking work is already complete and future improvements can be measured against work that is already complete and third-party certified.

“The next step for USRSB is the completion of an assurance framework from which to measure improvement. This next phase is an important one for our industry because it paves the way to demonstrate that companies and individuals all along the value chain are putting practices in place which advance our sustainability,” said Butler. “Under this framework, USRSB will provide the education and training resources for each segment of the beef supply chain. In the case of some companies, we’re already seeing value-added programs that are advancing our sustainability and providing a return on investment for the producers who are taking part in it, so it’s a very exciting time to be a part of the sustainability effort.”

Butler acknowledged that there has been a great deal of ambiguity about the true definition or meaning of sustainability, and that the efforts of USRSB are designed to resolve those questions and continue moving the beef value chain forward.

“The entire industry has a great deal of societal pressure to demonstrate responsibility,” he said. “By explaining what sustainability really is, documenting the good work we are already doing and then taking steps to improve, we can tell our story of sustainability and build trust in our product. Through these efforts, we can be more transparent with the consumer and that’s something we should all be able to embrace.”