Greenhouse gas emission intensity based on lifetime milk production of dairy animals, as affected by ration-balancing program

2018 ◽  
Vol 58 (6) ◽  
pp. 1027 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. R. Garg ◽  
P. L. Sherasia ◽  
B. T. Phondba ◽  
H. P. S. Makkar

Smallholder dairying in India and other developing countries relies on low- and medium-productive animals, and the feeding is mainly based on crop residues and other agro-industrial by-products. The diets are generally nutritionally imbalanced, resulting in productive and reproductive inefficiencies. This also negatively affects the emission intensity (Ei). For the past 3 years, the National Dairy Development Board of India has been implementing large-scale ration-balancing (RB) program in field animals. The effect of feeding balanced rations on Ei was explored. A cradle to farm-gate life-cycle assessment, taking into account the lifespan milk production, was conducted on 163 540 lactating cows and 163 550 buffaloes in northern, southern, eastern and western India. The life-cycle assessment boundary included feed production, enteric fermentation and manure management during various stages of life. On the basis of economic allocation, emissions of methane (CH4) from enteric fermentation, CH4 from manure management, nitrous oxide from manure management and greenhouse gas (GHG), i.e. carbon dioxide (CO2), CH4 and nitrous oxide from feed production, contributed 69.9%, 6.3%, 9.6% and 14.2% in cows, and 71.6%, 7.4%, 12.6% and 8.4% in buffaloes, respectively, to the baseline (before RB) lifetime total GHG emissions. Average Ei based on economic, mass and digestibility allocation for ‘baseline versus after RB’ were 1.6 versus 1.1, 1.8 versus 1.2 and 1.7 versus 1.2 kg CO2-equivalent/kg fat and protein-corrected milk in cows and 2.3 versus 1.5, 2.5 versus 1.6 and 2.4 versus 1.5 kg CO2-equivalent/kg fat and protein-corrected milk in buffaloes, respectively. Feeding-balanced rations significantly improved milk production, but reduced Ei of milk on lifetime basis by 31.2% and 34.7% in cows and buffaloes, respectively. Implementation of RB program has shown considerable potential to reduce GHG emission intensity under smallholding dairy production system of India.

2021 ◽  
Vol 99 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 24-25
Author(s):  
Agbee L Kpogo ◽  
Jismol Jose ◽  
Josiane Panisson ◽  
Bernardo Predicala ◽  
Alvin Alvarado ◽  
...  

Abstract The impact of feeding growing pigs with high wheat millrun diets on the global warming potential (GWP) of pork production was investigated. In study 1, a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement of wheat millrun (0 or 30%) and multi-carbohydrase enzyme (0 or 1 mg kg-1) as main effects was utilized. For each of 16 reps, 6 pigs (60.2±2.2 kg BW) were housed in environmental chambers for 14d. Air samples were collected and analyzed for carbon dioxide (CO2); nitrous oxide (N2O); and methane (CH4). In study 2, data from study 1 and performance data obtained from a previous feeding trial were utilized in a life cycle assessment (LCA) framework that included feed production. The Holos farm model (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Lethbridge. AB) was used to estimate emissions from feed production. In study 1, total manure output from pigs fed 30% wheat millrun diets was 30% greater than pigs on the 0% wheat millrun diets (P < 0.05), however, Feeding diets with 30% millrun did not affect greenhouse gas (GHG) output (CH4, 4.7, 4.9; N2O, 0.45, 0.42; CO2, 1610, 1711; mg s-1 without or with millrun inclusion, respectively; P > 0.78). Enzyme supplementation had no effect on GHG production (CH4, 4.5, 5.1; N2O, 0.46, 0.42; CO2, 1808, 1513; mg s-1 without or with enzymes, respectively; P > 0.51). In study 2, the LCA indicated that the inclusion of 30% wheat millrun in diets for growing pigs resulted in approximately a 25% reduction in GWP when compared to the no wheat millrun diets. Our results demonstrate that 30% wheat millrun did not increase GHG output from the pigs, and thus the inclusion of wheat millrun in diets of growing pigs can reduce the GWP of pork production.


Author(s):  
Syakira Afiqah Suffian ◽  
Atiah Abdullah Sidek ◽  
Toshihiko Matsuto ◽  
Muataz Hazza Al Hazza ◽  
Hazlina Md Yusof ◽  
...  

The aim of this research was to evaluate the level of greenhouse gas emission from broiler chicken farming industry in Malaysia. In order to achieve that, Life Cycle Assessment method was chosen as a framework to complete the task. A case study was conducted at a broiler chicken farm to gather the data and information related to the broiler chicken production. Cradle-to-gate assessment including distribution stage was conducted based on the ISO14040/1044 guidelines. Inventory data for this case study was gathered in collaboration with one of the selected case study broiler chicken farm company. Greenhouse gas emission that consists of several most affected gases such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide was studied. Result shows that the highest carbon dioxide emission came from manure, which accounted for 1,665,342 kg CO2 equivalent per total broilers while the highest methane emission came from feed, which accounted for 126,207.84 g CH4 equivalent per total broilers. For nitrous oxide emission, the highest values came from bedding which accounted for 20,316.87 g N2O equivalent per total broilers in the commercial modern broiler chicken farm. In this case study, it can be concluded that manure gives the most prominent effect to the greenhouse gas emission followed by feed and bedding materials. 


2014 ◽  
Vol 94 (1) ◽  
pp. 155-173 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susantha Jayasundara ◽  
Claudia Wagner-Riddle

Jayasundara, S. and Wagner-Riddle, C. 2014. Greenhouse gas emissions intensity of Ontario milk production in 2011 compared with 1991. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 94: 155–173. For identifying opportunities for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from milk production in Ontario, this study analyzed GHG intensity of milk [kg CO2 equivalents kg−1 fat and protein corrected milk (FPCM)] in 2011 compared with 1991 considering cow and crop productivity improvements and management changes over this period. It also assessed within-province variability in GHG intensity of milk in 2011 using county-level data related to milk production. After allocating whole-farm GHG emissions between milk and meat using an allocation factor calculated according to the International Dairy Federation equation, GHG intensity of Ontario milk was 1.03 kgCO2eq kg−1 FPCM in 2011, 22% lower than that in 1991 (1.32 kg CO2eq kg−1 FPCM). Greenhouse gas sources directly associated with dairy cattle decreased less (21 and 14% for enteric fermentation and manure management, respectively) than sources associated with feed crop production (30 to 34% for emissions related to N inputs and farm-field work). Proportions of GHG contributed from different life cycle activities did not change, with enteric fermentation contributing 46%, feed crop production 34%, manure management 18% and milking and related activities 2%. Within province, GHG intensity varied from 0.89 to 1.36 kg CO2eq kg−1 FPCM, a variation inversely correlated with milk productivity per cow (kg FPCM sold cow−1 year−1). The existence of a wide variation is strong indication for potential further reductions in GHG intensity of Ontario milk through the identification of practices associated with high efficiency.


2015 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. e06SC05 ◽  
Author(s):  
José Pereira ◽  
Henrique Trindade

<p>The aim of this study was evaluate the relationship between the intensity of milk production for a wide range of Portuguese commercial cattle farms and NH<sub>3</sub> and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from manure management and enteric fermentation. A survey was carried out at 1471 commercial dairy cattle farms (Holstein-Friesian) and the NH<sub>3</sub>, N<sub>2</sub>O and CH<sub>4</sub> emissions at each stage of manure management were estimated as well as CH<sub>4</sub> losses from enteric fermentation. Gaseous emissions were estimated by a mass flow approach and following the recommendations of IPCC guidelines. The manure management and enteric fermentation in a typical Portuguese cattle farm contributes with 7.5±0.15 g N/L milk produced as NH<sub>3</sub> and 1.2±0.22 kg CO<sub>2</sub> equivalent per litre of milk as GHG. Increasing milk production will significantly reduce NH<sub>3</sub> and GHG emissions per litre of milk produced. It can be concluded that a win-win strategy for reducing NH<sub>3</sub> and GHG emissions from dairy cattle farms will be the increase of milk production on these farms. This goal can be achieved by implementing animal breeding programs and improving feed efficiency in order to increase productivity.</p>


Foods ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 1194
Author(s):  
Friederike Ziegler ◽  
Katarina Nilsson ◽  
Nette Levermann ◽  
Masaana Dorph ◽  
Bjarne Lyberth ◽  
...  

Achieving a sustainable global food chain is becoming particularly acute as modern Western diets are adopted in a growing number of countries and cultures around the world. Understanding the consequences that this shift has on health and sustainability is important. This exploratory study is the first to apply the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology to analyze the sustainability implication of ongoing dietary shifts in Greenland, where locally hunted seal meat is increasingly being replaced by imported livestock products, primarily pig and poultry produced in Denmark. This dietary shift, indirectly driven by international trade bans such as the EU seal product ban, has sustainability implications. To inform and support more comprehensive analyses and policy discussions, this paper explores the sustainability of these parallel Greenlandic food supply chains. A quantitative comparison of the greenhouse gas emissions of Greenlandic hunted seal and Danish pig and poultry is complemented by a qualitative discussion of nutrition, cultural food preferences, animal welfare, and the use of land, pesticides and antibiotics. Although the variability in the life cycle inventory data collected from Greenlandic hunters was considerable, greenhouse gas emissions of seal meat were consistently lower than those of imported livestock products. Emissions of the latter are dominated by biogenic emissions from feed production and manure management, while these are absent for seal meat, whose emissions instead are dominated by fossil fuel use. The implications of these results for sustainable national food policies in a modern global context as well as important areas for additional research are discussed.


2016 ◽  
Vol 56 (9) ◽  
pp. 1418 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. G. Wiedemann ◽  
Eugene J. McGahan ◽  
Caoilinn M. Murphy

Agricultural industries are under increasing pressure to measure and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the supply chain. The Australian pork industry has established proactive goals to improve greenhouse-gas (GHG) performance across the industry, but while productivity indicators are benchmarked by industry, similar data have not previously been collected to determine supply chain GHG emissions. To assess total GHG emissions from Australian pork production, the present study conducted a life-cycle assessment of six case study supply chains and the national herd for the year 2010. The study aimed to determine total GHG emissions and hotspots, and to determine the mitigation potential from alternative manure treatment systems. Two functional units were used: 1 kg of pork liveweight (LW) at the farm gate, and 1 kg of wholesale pork (chilled, bone-in) ready for packaging and distribution. Mean GHG emissions from the case study supply chains ranged from 2.1 to 4.5 kg CO2-e/kg LW (excluding land-use (LU) and direct land use-change (dLUC) emissions). Emissions were lowest from the piggeries that housed grower-finisher pigs on deep litter and highest from pigs housed in conventional systems with uncovered anaerobic effluent ponds. Mean contribution from methane from effluent treatment was 64% of total GHG at the conventional piggeries. Nitrous oxide arose from both grain production and manure management, comprising 7–33% of the total emissions. The GHG emissions for the national herd were 3.6 kg CO2-e/kg LW, with the largest determining factor on total emissions being the relative proportion of pigs managed with high or low emission manure management systems. Emissions from LU and dLUC sources ranged from 0.08 to 0.7 kg CO2-e/kg LW for the case study farms, with differences associated with the inclusion rate of imported soybean meal in the ration and feed-conversion ratio. GHG intensity (excluding LU, dLUC) from the national herd was 6.36 ± 1.03 kg CO2-e/kg wholesale pork, with the emission profile dominated by methane from manure management (50%), followed by feed production (27%) and then meat processing (8%). Inclusion of LU and dLUC emissions had a minor effect on the emission profile. Scenarios testing showed that biogas capture from anaerobic digestion with combined heat and power generation resulted in a 31–64% reduction in GHG emissions. Finishing pigs on deep litter as preferred to conventional housing resulted in 38% lower GHG emissions than conventional finishing.


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