DENVER – Sustainability guidelines for the entire beef supply chain were completed March 2 by the US Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (USRSB), with the launch of modules addressing the retail and foodservice sectors. The beef stakeholder-based organization said this marks the fifth and final set of modules designed to improve the sustainability of each segment of beef production.   

“The USRSB is proud to complete the full sustainability modules series, which represents beef production from pasture to plate,” said Chad Ellis, chief executive officer of Texas Ag Land Trust and co-chair of the USRSB outreach working group.

The modules, which previously included practical guidance for the continued improvement of cow-calf operators, stockers, auction markets, packers and processors and now include retail and foodservice operations, were developed by people in the industry in each segment to provide interactive tools to self-assess their impacts on land and water use, employee safety and efficiency. The goal is to identify areas where improvement is needed.

“These modules were created for the industry by the industry, which means they keep all three pillars of sustainability in mind, use real-world terms and offer actionable suggestions for on-operation improvement,” Ellis said.

Samantha Werth, USRSB’s executive director, said closing the loop on the five modules is a milestone for the organization and its mission to equip stakeholders with the resources they need to improve their sustainability efforts.

“We hope our free tools will aid in the achievement of our sustainability goals, which will be launched at our USRSB general assembly meeting in April,” she said.