Livestock farms often produce more nitrogen and phosphorus in manure than can be used by crops, leading to environmental issues. A study compared different strategies for managing these nutrients on a beef cattle feedlot. The results showed that voluntary practices like changing animal diets and exporting manure can reduce phosphorus accumulation by 30-60%, while mandatory rules and buffers only reduce it by 5-7%. This suggests that voluntary actions can have a bigger positive impact on the environment than just following regulations. The study also found that looking at the overall nutrient balance of a farm can help improve the environmental performance of livestock systems.