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Parameters affecting the environmental impact of a range of dairy farming systems in Denmark, Germany and Italy

Guerci, Matteo; Knudsen, Marie Trydeman; Bava, Luciana; Zucali, Maddalena; Schönbach, Philipp and Kristensen, Troels (2013) Parameters affecting the environmental impact of a range of dairy farming systems in Denmark, Germany and Italy. Journal of Cleaner Production, 54, pp. 133-144.

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Document available online at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959652613002795


Summary

The environmental impact of 12 dairy farms in Denmark, Germany and Italy was evaluated using an LCA approach and the most important parameters influencing their environmental sustainability were identified. The farms represent different production methods (organic vs. conventional), summer feeding systems (confinement vs. pasture) and annual production levels (6275–10,964 kg ECM cow−1). There was large variability in stocking rates (1.1–11.0 LU ha−1) among farms, which has a major impact on the production per unit area of farmland, on feed self-sufficiency and on farm surplus of nitrogen. The proportion of grassland on farmland used for forage production or pasture varied from 0 to 100%. The lowest global warming potential (GWP), acidification, eutrophication and non-renewable energy use were achieved by the German pasture-based system, followed by the Danish organic dairy system and the very intensive Italian farming system with very similar environmental impact values. However, a sensitivity analysis showed that when emissions relating to direct land use change of soybean production were included in the assessment, the GWP changed considerably for the conventional farms due to the inclusion of conventional soymeal in the feed concentrate. There were strong and positive correlations between the four impact categories, and overall the results indicate that improving greenhouse gas emissions would improve the general environmental sustainability of the dairy farm. The land occupation was lowest in the farms with the highest stocking rate. The organic Danish farms had the lowest impact on biodiversity loss, which in general was positively influenced by the share of grassland in the system. A high proportion of grassland also had a significant positive effect on GWP, acidification and energy use. The other feature that mainly improved the environmental impact was the feed efficiency of the dairy cows, which was negatively correlated with GWP, acidification and eutrophication. We found no relation between the environmental impact and the milk production per cow or the stocking rate at the farm. However, due to the limited number of observations (only 12 farms were assessed), the results of the correlation analyses should be handled with care. There was also large variation in the relative contributions from on- and off-farm activities among farms and for the different impact categories, showing the importance of a holistic approach and the difficulties in evaluating a farming system both in a product and area-based perspective


EPrint Type:Journal paper
Keywords:LCA; Environmental impact; Milk; Dairy farm; Grassland; Biodiversity
Agrovoc keywords:
Language
Value
URI
English
life cycle analysis
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_9000105
English
Environmental impact
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_24420
English
milk
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_4826
English
Dairy farms
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_34762
English
grasslands
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_3366
English
Biodiversity
http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_33949
Subjects: Animal husbandry > Production systems > Dairy cattle
Environmental aspects > Air and water emissions
Environmental aspects > Biodiversity and ecosystem services
Research affiliation: European Union > SOLID
Denmark > Other organizations
Horizon Europe or H2020 Grant Agreement Number:266367
DOI:10.1016/j.jclepro.2013.04.035
Deposited By: Knudsen, Researcher Marie Trydeman
ID Code:22798
Deposited On:30 May 2013 06:24
Last Modified:14 Nov 2017 08:03
Document Language:English
Status:Published
Refereed:Peer-reviewed and accepted

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