Beef Production Health Systems: Perspectives of a Trained Systems Thinker

Abstract

Managing beef cattle health across a segmented production and marketing system can be thought of as a perplexing problem due to the counterintuitive responses of the system to existing management strategies. The process of thinking in systems to recognize and develop systems thinking archetypes is emphasized. The 2 cases discussed are brought together to explore deeper but often unrecognized structure that contributes to reinforcing problematic behavior, the structure of mental models. Training in systems thinking and system dynamics modeling equips the scientist to translate within and between scientific disciplines, a much-needed skill for addressing current and emerging beef production problems.

Keywords: Integrated beef production; Mental models; Morbidity; System dynamics.