https://w3id.org/np/RAqTr_w_iH2kliiKByfgVtVP3OMREtdDOstkkxK4H8RYk/Head https://w3id.org/np/RAqTr_w_iH2kliiKByfgVtVP3OMREtdDOstkkxK4H8RYk http://www.nanopub.org/nschema#hasAssertion https://w3id.org/np/RAqTr_w_iH2kliiKByfgVtVP3OMREtdDOstkkxK4H8RYk/assertion https://w3id.org/np/RAqTr_w_iH2kliiKByfgVtVP3OMREtdDOstkkxK4H8RYk http://www.nanopub.org/nschema#hasProvenance https://w3id.org/np/RAqTr_w_iH2kliiKByfgVtVP3OMREtdDOstkkxK4H8RYk/provenance https://w3id.org/np/RAqTr_w_iH2kliiKByfgVtVP3OMREtdDOstkkxK4H8RYk http://www.nanopub.org/nschema#hasPublicationInfo https://w3id.org/np/RAqTr_w_iH2kliiKByfgVtVP3OMREtdDOstkkxK4H8RYk/pubinfo https://w3id.org/np/RAqTr_w_iH2kliiKByfgVtVP3OMREtdDOstkkxK4H8RYk http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#type http://www.nanopub.org/nschema#Nanopublication https://w3id.org/np/RAqTr_w_iH2kliiKByfgVtVP3OMREtdDOstkkxK4H8RYk/assertion https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s43621-024-00253-y http://purl.org/dc/terms/creator https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6917-8729 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s43621-024-00253-y http://purl.org/dc/terms/creator https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9532-585X https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s43621-024-00253-y http://purl.org/dc/terms/publisher https://ror.org/01xsmwp79 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s43621-024-00253-y http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#type https://w3id.org/fair/ff/terms/article https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s43621-024-00253-y http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#type https://w3id.org/fdof/ontology#FAIRDigitalObject https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s43621-024-00253-y http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#comment Beef production systems are at the center of ongoing discussion and debate on food systems sustainability. There is a growing interest among beef producers, consumers, and other beef supply chain stakeholders in achieving greater sustainability within the industry, but the relationship of this interest to general sustainability issues such as climate change, biodiversity loss, food security, livelihood risks, and animal welfare concerns is unclear. Specifically, there is very little research documenting how beef producers define and view the concept of sustainability and how to achieve it. Producer perspectives are critical to identifying constraints to sustainability transitions or to help build agreement with other producers about the shared values such transitions may support. Through a secondary analysis of survey data of U.S. beef producers (n = 911) conducted in 2021 by the Trust in Food division of Farm Journal, a corporation that provides content, data, and business insights to the agricultural community (e.g., producers, processors/distributors, and retailers), we investigated what “sustainable beef” means to U.S. beef producers, highlighting the key components and constraints they perceive to achieving desirable sustainability outcomes. Leveraging the three-pillar model of sustainability as a framework for analysis, we identified key themes producers use to define “sustainable beef.” We found that producers collectively viewed sustainability as: (1) multidimensional and interconnected; (2) semi-closed and regenerative; (3) long-lasting; and (4) producer-centered, although an integrated perspective uniting these aspects was rare. We discuss how these perspectives may be the basis for sustainability efforts supported by producers and raise future research considerations toward a shared understanding of what sustainability is and what is needed for enduring sustainability solutions in the U.S. beef industry. Major findings: A 2021 survey of 911 U.S. beef producers investigated how those in the industry define "sustainable beef." The study found that 71% (n = 649) of respondents came from families with three or more generations in beef production. Producers collectively identified sustainability through four themes: it is multidimensional (covering environmental, social, and economic needs), semi-closed (minimizing outside inputs), long-lasting (focused on the future), and producer-centered (focused on fair markets). While 49% of responses mentioned environmental topics and 43% discussed economic viability, only 5% of producers expressed a fully integrated view including all three "pillars" of sustainability. The research highlights that while the industry accounts for 17% of total U.S. agricultural cash receipts ($72.9 billion in 2021), producers face significant external constraints, such as market consolidation where the four largest packing firms control roughly 75% of the market. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s43621-024-00253-y http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#label U.S. beef producer perspectives on “sustainable beef” and implications for sustainability transitions https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s43621-024-00253-y https://schema.org/funder https://ror.org/0078xmk34 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s43621-024-00253-y https://w3id.org/fdof/ontology#hasMetadata https://w3id.org/np/RAqTr_w_iH2kliiKByfgVtVP3OMREtdDOstkkxK4H8RYk https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s43621-024-00253-y https://www.w3.org/ns/dcat#contactPoint ada.smith@umontana.edu https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s43621-024-00253-y https://www.w3.org/ns/dcat#endDate 2025 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s43621-024-00253-y https://www.w3.org/ns/dcat#startDate 2024 https://w3id.org/np/RAqTr_w_iH2kliiKByfgVtVP3OMREtdDOstkkxK4H8RYk/provenance https://w3id.org/np/RAqTr_w_iH2kliiKByfgVtVP3OMREtdDOstkkxK4H8RYk/assertion http://www.w3.org/ns/prov#wasAttributedTo https://orcid.org/0009-0008-8411-2742 https://w3id.org/np/RAqTr_w_iH2kliiKByfgVtVP3OMREtdDOstkkxK4H8RYk/pubinfo https://orcid.org/0009-0008-8411-2742 http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/name Emily Regalado https://w3id.org/np/RAqTr_w_iH2kliiKByfgVtVP3OMREtdDOstkkxK4H8RYk http://purl.org/dc/terms/created 2026-01-14T05:47:29.670Z https://w3id.org/np/RAqTr_w_iH2kliiKByfgVtVP3OMREtdDOstkkxK4H8RYk http://purl.org/dc/terms/creator https://orcid.org/0009-0008-8411-2742 https://w3id.org/np/RAqTr_w_iH2kliiKByfgVtVP3OMREtdDOstkkxK4H8RYk http://purl.org/dc/terms/license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://w3id.org/np/RAqTr_w_iH2kliiKByfgVtVP3OMREtdDOstkkxK4H8RYk http://purl.org/nanopub/x/introduces https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s43621-024-00253-y https://w3id.org/np/RAqTr_w_iH2kliiKByfgVtVP3OMREtdDOstkkxK4H8RYk http://purl.org/nanopub/x/wasCreatedAt https://nanodash.knowledgepixels.com/ https://w3id.org/np/RAqTr_w_iH2kliiKByfgVtVP3OMREtdDOstkkxK4H8RYk https://w3id.org/np/o/ntemplate/wasCreatedFromProvenanceTemplate https://w3id.org/np/RA7lSq6MuK_TIC6JMSHvLtee3lpLoZDOqLJCLXevnrPoU https://w3id.org/np/RAqTr_w_iH2kliiKByfgVtVP3OMREtdDOstkkxK4H8RYk https://w3id.org/np/o/ntemplate/wasCreatedFromPubinfoTemplate https://w3id.org/np/RA0J4vUn_dekg-U1kK3AOEt02p9mT2WO03uGxLDec1jLw https://w3id.org/np/RAqTr_w_iH2kliiKByfgVtVP3OMREtdDOstkkxK4H8RYk https://w3id.org/np/o/ntemplate/wasCreatedFromPubinfoTemplate https://w3id.org/np/RAukAcWHRDlkqxk7H2XNSegc1WnHI569INvNr-xdptDGI https://w3id.org/np/RAqTr_w_iH2kliiKByfgVtVP3OMREtdDOstkkxK4H8RYk https://w3id.org/np/o/ntemplate/wasCreatedFromTemplate https://w3id.org/np/RArM5GTwgxg9qslGX-XiQ-KTTUwdoM0KB1YqmT4GqTizA https://w3id.org/np/RAqTr_w_iH2kliiKByfgVtVP3OMREtdDOstkkxK4H8RYk/sig http://purl.org/nanopub/x/hasAlgorithm RSA https://w3id.org/np/RAqTr_w_iH2kliiKByfgVtVP3OMREtdDOstkkxK4H8RYk/sig http://purl.org/nanopub/x/hasPublicKey MIIBIjANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQEFAAOCAQ8AMIIBCgKCAQEAxzr6UBGMW6c8tegz0babaledWUEQ0PLDE4tp7Iinbe2DZtAtY5JUptKYuStWDZx+QER4808P8dejNWRnBDzgthYJm/AyNSXflHSJhz2+NC+h7RylOLxbwLEQocmyKKiYxa2gT85m6ajVL2M6TnfG67nnK+K2f7iCGL6wYXRITD1q+7+5SWqBdDXIV921W4IKWaD2GJk+NRBoOqQhbsrk8Tn5XsNd7DMYVHk47oMDGbeBnrOIoRPsbBgAcoCsxxhiB9yN6Lf8EUbnlXVEDzJuZk048L1BDZL+6nkA8btTQGP2ijUFWA7rTrod3LjUDQWLZS95njjl867dtmv/znYkzwIDAQAB https://w3id.org/np/RAqTr_w_iH2kliiKByfgVtVP3OMREtdDOstkkxK4H8RYk/sig http://purl.org/nanopub/x/hasSignature ts738Czvf+yUTNWeGTjzmnWJHD0jOOqyWD2efl+PLlQ8YS6E/DNwoxo4WQhFeHtDOhEuYbI6eqB+zeZmd5OyDhK91eTK2Xz+6Z9wvDoqp1ir51GY4JTfK9gbmclpXACRK5lcPBAaFxdY15lyop/87YhmI8SdWdgdDmZx0QY3IAi3AY21Ndd7rATx2442TmKnrnwQR1oRb68J1NMXDWzR6cjXwEgISrrV9IUDF8yt/VuC6cTcCpTpsOr97OmulkiSgq5J1wkPQ7lG0CcMkgEjxeHmhh8YM9XV6v4COIUZwapoBgFRhYAmZpeVoFbcr0drq9rxl84b/xOThXzf2P7Y9Q== https://w3id.org/np/RAqTr_w_iH2kliiKByfgVtVP3OMREtdDOstkkxK4H8RYk/sig http://purl.org/nanopub/x/hasSignatureTarget https://w3id.org/np/RAqTr_w_iH2kliiKByfgVtVP3OMREtdDOstkkxK4H8RYk https://w3id.org/np/RAqTr_w_iH2kliiKByfgVtVP3OMREtdDOstkkxK4H8RYk/sig http://purl.org/nanopub/x/signedBy https://orcid.org/0009-0008-8411-2742