Rothwell, S.A.Doody, DonnachaJohnston, ChristopherForber, K.J.Cencic, O.Rechberger, H.2020-09-182020-09-182020-07-31Rothwell, S. A., Doody, D. G., Johnston, C., Forber, K. J., Cencic, O., Rechberger, H. and Withers, P. J. A. (2020) ‘Phosphorus stocks and flows in an intensive livestock dominated food system’, Resources, Conservation and Recycling. Elsevier BV, 163, p. 105065. doi: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2020.105065.0921-3449https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2020.105065Publication history: Accepted - 21 July 2020; Published online - 31 July 2020.Current use and management of phosphorus (P) in our food systems is considered unsustainable and considerable improvements in the efficiency of P use are required to mitigate the environmental impact of poor P stewardship. The inherent low P use efficiency of food production from animals means food systems dominated by livestock agriculture can pose unique challenges for improving P management. This paper presents the results of a substance flow analysis for P in the Northern Ireland (NI) food system for the year 2017 as a case study for examining P stewardship in a livestock dominated agricultural system. Imported livestock feed was by far the largest flow of P into the NI food system in 2017 (11,700 t ± 1300 t) and P from livestock excreta the largest internal flow of P (20,400 ± 1900t). The P contained in livestock slurries and manures alone that were returned to agricultural land exceeded total crop and grass P requirement by 20% and were the largest contributor to an annual excess soil P accumulation of 8.5 ± 1.4 kg ha−1. This current livestock driven P surplus also limits the opportunities for P circularity and reuse from other sectors within the food system, e.g. wastewater biosolids and products from food processing waste. Management of livestock P demand (livestock numbers, feed P content) or technological advancements that facilitate the processing and subsequent export of slurries and manures are therefore needed.en© 2020 The Authors. This is an open access article published under a Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the author and source are cited.PhosphorusSubstance flow analysisFood systemLivestockNorthern IrelandArticle