Our findings reveal that factoring environmental costs into optimization is essential for increasing the environmental sustainability of feed production. Specifically, the large observed reductions in land stress impacts suggest that including this impact category in optimization is crucial for reducing the impact of livestock feed production on biodiversity loss. This finding is remarkable considering that the impacts on biodiversity are often underappreciated and unaccounted for in industrial livestock systems , even compared to the more frequently estimated carbon emissions . Making these estimates available through combining NIRS and LCA in feed optimization therefore offers the opportunity for multifaceted environmental value creation in the livestock business model.