Environmental and Economic Impacts of Extending the Productive Lifespan of Swiss Dairy Herds in Diverse Husbandry Systems

Lozano Jarmaillo, Maria; Walkenhorst, Michael; Leiber, Florian and Pfeifer, Catherine (2025) Environmental and Economic Impacts of Extending the Productive Lifespan of Swiss Dairy Herds in Diverse Husbandry Systems. In: Book of Abstracts of the 76th Annual Meeting of the European Federation of Animal Science, Innsbruck, Austria. 25-29 August 2025, EAAP, Rome, Italy, Annual meeting of the European Association for Animal Production, no. 39, p. 217.

PDF - English (Abstract)
Limited to [Depositor and staff only]
363kB

Document available online at: https://meetings.eaap.org/previous-annual-meetings/

Summary

Prolonging the productive lifespan of dairy cows reduces greenhouse gas emissions and land use by lowering the need for replacement animals, even if milk yield per cow declines. Economic outcomes vary: average lifespans typically provide the highest gross margins, while very long lifespans can reduce income unless land can be repurposed profitably. Overall, extending cow lifespan offers clear environmental benefits, with economic viability depending on farm type and land‑use strategy.

EPrint Type:	Conference paper, poster, etc.
Type of presentation:	Paper
Keywords:	GHG emission, land-use, divers husbandry system, dairy, Abacus, FiBL50114, FiBL35288
Agrovoc keywords:	Language Value URI English lifespan -> longevity http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_4428 English animal husbandry methods http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_433 English dairy cows http://aims.fao.org/aos/agrovoc/c_26767
Subjects:	Animal husbandry > Feeding and growth Animal husbandry > Health and welfare Food systems > Policy environments and social economy "Organics" in general > Countries and regions > Switzerland
Research affiliation:	Switzerland > FiBL - Research Institute of Organic Agriculture Switzerland > Animal > Animal health Switzerland > FiBL - Research Institute of Organic Agriculture Switzerland > Animal > Animal welfare & housing > Animal welfare Switzerland > FiBL - Research Institute of Organic Agriculture Switzerland > Animal > Cattle Switzerland > FiBL - Research Institute of Organic Agriculture Switzerland > Sustainability > Sustainability assessment > LCA
ISBN:	979-12-210-6769-9
Related Links:	https://www.fibl.org/de/themen/projektdatenbank/projektitem/project/1821, https://www.fibl.org/en/themes/projectdatabase/projectitem/project/2759
Deposited By:	Ellenberger, Maura
ID Code:	56954
Deposited On:	19 Mar 2026 07:50
Last Modified:	19 Mar 2026 08:13
Document Language:	English
Status:	Published
Refereed:	Peer-reviewed and accepted

Repository Staff Only: item control page

Download Statistics

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

View more statistics