1. Decription of beef production at European level and national level in partner countries.

This description provides an understanding of the production context and the main types of cattle produced in each country and provides arguments for discussing the types of territories and types of farms that are appropriate to represent the diversity of beef production in the partner countries.

For each partner country, the processing of EU statistics provides information at the national level on:

- beef production in terms of herd size, meat production and spatial distribution

- the type of animals: specialized beef, dairy or crossbred

- beef trade between partner countries and with other countries

   2. Select and describe case studies representative of the diversity of beef production systems in partner countries

TThe diversity of beef production systems in the partner countries is analyzed through a typology that crosses farm types (type of beef production, importance of cash crops, etc.), soil potential, climate and the availability of co-products in the area. An inventory of the databases and typologies available in each country, as well as a harmonization of the descriptive variables are a prerequisite to this task. This typology allows the selection and description of representative farms that are evaluated in WP2.2 and modeled in WP3. 

A template with the main descriptive indicators of farm types was defined and shared among the partners. These indicators include:

- Structure: size, area, labor force, herd size, production.

- Economics: price, gross margin, net income, etc.

- Feeding practices: type of feed, characteristics of animal diets, grazing practices, share of feed produced on the farm, etc.

- Reproduction, culling, mortality, etc.

- Forage management: fertilization and treatments, number and type of grazing cuts, yields, etc.

- Type of housing, manure management and, if applicable, type of machinery.

A more detailed description can be found in the subsections. The deliverable detailing the meat production in the different countries and describing each typical case can be downloaded below.