DIAKITE, Zakary R.; MOSNIER, Claire.; BRUNSCHWIG, Gilles.; CORSON, Michael S. and BAUMONT, René. (2023) Environmental assessment of mountain grassland farms with mixed cattle systems: use of bioeconomic simulations. xxx, xxx, xxx-xxx. [Submitted]
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Summary
Management practices of cattle farming systems must be improved, particularly to increase the systems’ feed self-sufficiency, food production and environmental performances. In mountain areas of the Massif Central (central France), mixed dairy/suckler cattle systems enable farmers to use grassland resources better and cope with economic fluctuations.
Our objective was to estimate levels of ecosystem services provided by mixed dairy/suckler cattle systems as a function of the degree of mixing, along with their greenhouse gas emissions and energy use when their operation is optimized on an economic basis. The hypothesis was that mixed dairy/suckler cattle systems allow for controlled use of biomass, with better environmental performances than specialized systems (pure dairy or suckler herd) by maintaining grassland ecosystem services. Five herd-distribution scenarios were simulated using the Orfee bioeconomic optimization model. Environmental performances of the five systems were assessed according to three functional units (i.e., per farm, ha and kg protein produced).
Mixed dairy/suckler cattle systems, which enabled larger herds, had higher greenhouse gas emissions per ha than specialized systems. However, because dairy cows produce more protein (milk and beef) than suckler cows, specialized dairy systems had the lowest greenhouse gas emissions and energy use per kg of protein. Specialized dairy systems had less advantage when dairy cows had less access to grassland. For the production of both milk and beef, mixed dairy/suckler cattle systems favour more sustainable use of biomass and tend to maintain a better combination of levels of ecosystem services for livestock production than specialized cattle farming systems.
| EPrint Type: | Journal paper |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | bioeconomic optimization, mixed dairy/suckler cattle herds, ecosystem services, greenhouse gas emissions, grassland typology |
| Agrovoc keywords: | Language Value URI English bioeconomic models http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_fd616063 English optimization methods http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_5372 English greenhouse gas emissions http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_36198c2c English ecosystem services http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_1348040570280 English environmental management http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_37875 |
| Subjects: | Farming Systems > Farm economics Farming Systems Crop husbandry > Greenhouses and coverings Environmental aspects > Biodiversity and ecosystem services Environmental aspects |
| Research affiliation: | France > VetAgroSup France > INRAe - Institut national de recherche pour l’agriculture, l’alimentation et l’environnement |
| Deposited By: | Diakité, Dr Z.R. |
| ID Code: | 45385 |
| Deposited On: | 21 Feb 2023 13:39 |
| Last Modified: | 21 Feb 2023 13:39 |
| Document Language: | English |
| Status: | Submitted |
| Refereed: | Submitted for peer-review but not yet accepted |
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