Standortgerechte Rindfleischproduktion im Schweizer Biolandbau

Summary

In Switzerland, most of the calves from organic milk production are fattened indoors on conventional farms with concentrates. In this study, we compared organic beef
production with two conventional systems in terms of their energy demand and global warming potential. Due to the concentrate feeding in the two conventional systems
beef cattle reach the weight for slaughtering at a shorter lifespan. The organic pasture beef production had the lowest annual per animal global warming potential, but due to
slower growth rates as a consequence of lower concentrate feeding, also the highest per kg emissions. However, conclusions on the relative environmental sustainability of
the three systems need to look beyond purely LCA and take account of the high share of permanent grassland in the Swiss upland regions. Animal production adapted to the
local resources should make use of these for food production. Despite the lower ecoefficiency of organic pasture beef production overall global warming potential of animal production and other environmental impacts could be reduced if consumption by Swiss consumers was adapted to the lower annual output.