scholarly journals Effect of Nutritional Variation and LCA Methodology on the Carbon Footprint of Milk Production From Holstein Friesian Dairy Cows

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret D. March ◽  
Paul R. Hargreaves ◽  
Alasdair J. Sykes ◽  
Robert M. Rees
Keyword(s):  
Milk Production ◽  
Carbon Footprint ◽  
Crude Protein ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Climate Change Policy ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Economic Allocation ◽  
Feed Digestibility ◽  
Holstein Friesian ◽  
Dairy Systems

The UK livestock industry urgently needs to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to contribute to ambitious climate change policy commitments. Achieving this requires an improved understanding of emission sources across a range of production systems to lower the burden associated with livestock products. Life cycle assessment (LCA) methods are used in this study to model milk production from two genetic merits of Holstein Friesian cows managed in two novel and two conventional UK dairy systems. Select merit cows sired by bulls with high predicted transmission for fat plus protein yield are compared with Control merit animals sired from UK average merit bulls. Cows were managed in conventional housed and grazed dairy systems with novel Byproduct and Homegrown feeding regimes. A LCA was used to quantify the effect of allocation and management of feed components on the carbon footprint of milk production. Natural variation in nutritional quality of dairy system rations was investigated to quantify uncertainty in the carbon footprint results. Novel production system data are used to assess the effect of introducing home grown legumes and co-product feeds. Control merit footprints across each of the management regimes were significantly higher (p<0.001) in comparison with a high production Select merit, on average by 15%. Livestock emissions (enteric, manure management and deposition) and embedded emissions (purchased feeds, fertiliser, and pesticides) were also significantly higher from control merit cows (p<0.01). Mass and economic allocation methods, and land use functional units, resulted in differences in performance ranking of the dairy systems, with larger footprints resulting from mass allocation. Pairwise comparisons showed GHG's from the systems to be significantly different in total and source category emissions, with significant differences in mean embedded emissions found between most management systems (p<0.05). Monte Carlo simulated system footprints considering the effect of variation in feed digestibility and crude protein also differed significantly from system footprints using standard methods (p < 0.001). Dairy system carbon footprint results should be expressed using multiple units and where possible calculations should incorporate variation in diet digestibility and crude protein content.

How can grass-based dairy farmers reduce the carbon footprint of milk?

2016 ◽  
Vol 56 (3) ◽  
pp. 495 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. O'Brien ◽  
A. Geoghegan ◽  
K. McNamara ◽  
L. Shalloo
Keyword(s):  
Milk Production ◽  
Carbon Footprint ◽  
Economic Value ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Quota System ◽  
Dairy Farmers ◽  
Increase Milk Production ◽  
Fertiliser Use ◽  
Milk Solids

The Irish dairy industry aims to increase milk production from grass-based farms following the removal of the EU milk-quota system, but is also required to minimise greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to meet European reduction targets. Consequently, the sector is under increasing pressure to reduce GHG emissions per unit of milk, or carbon footprint (CF). Therefore, the goal of the present study was to determine the main sources of the CF of grass-based milk production and to identify mitigation strategies that can be applied to reduce farm footprints. In total, the CF of milk was estimated for 62 grass-based dairy farms in 2014. The method used to quantify GHG emissions was a life cycle assessment (LCA), independently certified to comply with the British standard for LCA (PAS 2050). The LCA method was applied to calculate annual on- and off-farm GHG emissions associated with dairy production until milk was sold from the farm in CO2-equivalent (CO2-eq). Annual GHG emissions computed using LCA were allocated to milk on the basis of the economic value of dairy products and expressed per kilogram of fat- and protein-corrected milk to estimate CF. Enteric methane was the main source of the CF of milk (46%), followed by emissions from inorganic N fertilisers (16%), manure (16%) and concentrate feedstuffs (8%). The mean CF of milk from the 62 farms was 1.26 kg of CO2-eq per kilogram of fat- and protein-corrected milk, but varied from 0.98 kg to 1.67 kg as measured using the 95% confidence interval. The CF of milk was correlated with numerous farm attributes, particularly N-fertiliser, the percentage of grazed grass in the diet, and production of milk solids. Grass-based dairy farmers can significantly improve these farm attributes by increasing herd genetic merit, extending the length of the grazing season and optimising N fertiliser use and, thereby, reduce the CF of milk.

Intake and milk production responses to legume silages offered to Holstein-Friesian cows

2000 ◽  
Vol 2000 ◽  
pp. 11-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. J. Dewhurst ◽  
D. W. R. Davies ◽  
W. J. Fisher ◽  
J. Bertilsson ◽  
R. J. Wilkins
Keyword(s):  
Milk Production ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Red Clover ◽  
Organic Production ◽  
Considerable Potential ◽  
Holstein Friesian ◽  
Legume Breeding ◽  
Conservation Technology ◽  
Agenda 2000 ◽  
Friesian Cows

Earlier work showed that red clover silage has considerable potential for milk production (e.g. Thomas et al., 1985), though low digestibility and difficulties ensiling clovers were seen as problems that needed to be addressed. Advances in legume breeding and conservation technology as well as a renewed emphasis on extensive organic production systems within Agenda 2000 meant that it was timely to reconsider the potential of legume silages for milk production.

scholarly journals Effect of Varying Dietary Crude Protein Level on Feed Intake, Nutrient Digestibility, Milk Production, and Nitrogen Use Efficiency by Lactating Holstein-Friesian Cows

Animals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 2439
Author(s):  
Constantine Bakyusa Katongole ◽  
Tianhai Yan
Keyword(s):  
Milk Production ◽  
Milk Yield ◽  
Crude Protein ◽  
Milk Protein ◽  
Live Weight ◽  
Nutrient Digestibility ◽  
Dietary Crude Protein ◽  
Holstein Friesian ◽  
Use Efficiency ◽  
Friesian Cows

The effect of dietary crude protein (CP) level on intake, digestibility, milk production, and nitrogen (N) use efficiency was studied. Twenty-four Holstein-Friesian cows (17 multiparous and seven primiparous) were grouped by parity, days in milk, milk yield, and live weight into six blocks of four, and randomly assigned to four total mixed ration (TMR) treatments, containing 141, 151, 177, or 210 g CP/kg dry matter (DM), over 28 day experimental periods. Apparent total-tract DM and fiber digestibilities and milk fat composition were similar across treatments. Milk protein and urea-N compositions, and urinary and manure N excretion increased linearly, while milk N efficiency (MNE) decreased linearly with increasing CP. DM intake was highest with the 177 diet, while CP intake increased linearly with increasing CP, peaking at 200 g/kg DM. Milk yield increased with CP intake for the three lower CP levels, peaking at 176 g CP/kg DM. The further increase in CP level from 177 to 210 g/kg DM did not result in improved milk yield, but resulted in decreased milk N secretion and increased urinary N excretion. In summary, milk protein composition increased linearly with increasing CP, accompanied by a linear decrease in MNE, resulting in a bell-shaped relationship between milk yield and dietary CP level.

Degradabilities of dry matter and crude protein from perennial herbage and supplements used in dairy production systems in Victoria

1999 ◽  
Vol 39 (6) ◽  
pp. 645 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. J. Wales ◽  
P. T. Doyle ◽  
D. W. Dellow
Keyword(s):  
Dairy Cows ◽  
Milk Production ◽  
Cottonseed Meal ◽  
Crude Protein ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Dry Matter Digestibility ◽  
Cereal Grain ◽  
Outflow Rate

Summary The nylon bag technique was used to estimate the degradability of the dry matter (DM) and crude protein (CP) of herbage samples and supplementary feeds from recent grazing experiments with dairy cows conducted in Victoria. The cumulative disappearance data for CP were used to calculate the effective rumen degradability of CP (ERDP, g/kg DM) for these feeds at rumen outflow rates of 0.02, 0.05 or 0.08/h. Crude protein was more extensively degraded than DM in all herbage samples collected before grazing, or in those samples taken to represent the herbage consumed by grazing cows. The ERDP of spring pastures (excluding the dead material and postgrazed samples) was generally in the range 103–197 g/kg DM, at an outflow rate of 0.02/h and in the range 74–142 g/kg DM, at an outflow rate of 0.08/h. For summer pastures, the ERDP was generally in the range 80–128 g/kg DM, at an outflow rate of 0.02/h and in the range 58–108 g/kg DM, at an outflow rate of 0.08/h. For autumn pastures, ERDP ranged from 108 to 170 g/kg DM, at an outflow rate of 0.02/h and from 84 to 140 g/kg DM, at an outflow rate of 0.08/h. There were only 2 herbage samples collected during the winter, which had ERDP of 237 and 249 g/kg DM, at an outflow rate of 0.02/h and 213 and 222 g/kg DM, at an outflow rate of 0.08/h. Values for ERDP tended to be higher for these winter samples compared with spring samples. In contrast, autumn samples tended to have lower ERDP than spring samples. It is shown that metabolisable protein is unlikely to limit milk production of cows consuming 17 kg herbage DM/cow. day and producing up to 30 L milk/day, when milk production is determined from metabolisable energy supply. The excesses in metabolisable protein ranged from 0.48 to 1.21 kg/cow. day from a subset of spring herbage samples cut to represent that selected by cows and from 0.14 to 0.23 kg/cow. day from summer herbage samples. The degradability characteristics of the herbage samples were similar to some estimates for temperate herbages in the United Kingdom and from limited data from Australia and should form a useful basis on which to assess whether additional metabolisable protein is required as supplements for dairy cows grazing pastures in Victoria. There was a positive (P<0.01) relationship between CP content and ERDP (R2 = 0.93), across herbage samples indicating it could be possible to estimate ERDP for herbage samples that have been assessed for CP content. There was also a significant (P<0.01) positive relationship between the effective degradability of DM of herbage and ERDP (R2 = 0.77). The relationships between in vitro dry matter digestibility or neutral detergent fibre and ERDP were also significant (P<0.01), but accounted for even less of the variability. The ERDP in cereal grain-based supplements ranged from 87 to 111 g/kg DM, at a outflow rate from the rumen of 0.02/h, compared with 70–92 g/kg DM, at an outflow rate of 0.08/h. The compounded supplements containing varying levels of cereal grain, lupins and cottonseed meal, had effective degradabilities of CP that generally declined as the content of lupins decreased and the content of cottonseed meal increased. However, ERDP increased to 152 g/kg DM because of the increasing CP content with increasing cottonseed meal. These results are compared with previously published estimates of effective degradability of CP for supplementary feeds.

Adding bentonite to sorghum grain-based supplements has no effect on cow milk production

1997 ◽  
Vol 37 (5) ◽  
pp. 505 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. K. Ehrlich ◽  
T. M. Davison
Keyword(s):  
Milk Production ◽  
Crude Protein ◽  
Lolium Multiflorum ◽  
Latin Square ◽  
Cow Milk ◽  
Meat And Bone Meal ◽  
Rumen Ph ◽  
Holstein Friesian ◽  
Sorghum Grain ◽  
Friesian Cows

Summary. Twenty-four Holstein–Friesian cows were used in an experiment comparing milk production from cows offered rolled sorghum grain either alone at 8 or 10 kg/head. day of air-dried grain or with 4% sodium bentonite. The design was a 4 × 4 latin square with a 1 week adjustment period and a 3 week treatment period. This design was used to highlight the effects of high levels of grain feeding and changing that level of grain or grain–bentonite every 4 weeks. Cows grazed either ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum cv. Tetila) or oats (Avena sativa cv. Cluan) during the day and a mixed ration based on maize silage, lucerne hay, and meat and bone meal at night. There was no significant effect of treatments on milk yield or composition. Cows fed bentonite had a higher (P<0.05) rumen pH, tended to eat less grain sorghum and have lower concentrations of rumen ammonia and faecal starch. Faecal crude protein tended to increase with the use of bentonite indicating cows may have substituted pasture or mixed ration for grain and maintained a more stable rumen fermentation.

Improving farm profitability also reduces the carbon footprint of milk production in intensive dairy production systems

2019 ◽  
Vol 229 ◽  
pp. 1018-1028 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susantha Jayasundara ◽  
David Worden ◽  
Alfons Weersink ◽  
Tom Wright ◽  
Andrew VanderZaag ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Milk Production ◽  
Carbon Footprint ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Dairy Production ◽  
Farm Profitability

Carbon footprint of milk production under smallholder dairying in Anand district of Western India: a cradle-to-farm gate life cycle assessment

2016 ◽  
Vol 56 (3) ◽  
pp. 423 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. R. Garg ◽  
B. T. Phondba ◽  
P. L. Sherasia ◽  
H. P. S. Makkar
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Milk Production ◽  
Carbon Footprint ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Buffalo Milk ◽  
Agricultural Products ◽  
Manure Management ◽  
Western India ◽  
Smallholder Dairy ◽  
Ch4 And N2o

In recent years, the concept of life cycle assessment (LCA) has proven to be useful because of its potential to assess the integral environmental impacts of agricultural products. Developing countries such as India are good candidates for LCA research because of the large contribution of smallholder dairy system to the production of agricultural products such as milk. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to explore the carbon footprint of milk production under the multi-functional smallholder dairy system in Anand district of Gujarat state, western India. A cradle-to-farm gate LCA was performed by covering 60 smallholder dairy farms within 12 geographically distinct villages of the district. The average farm size was 4.0 animals per farm, and the average number of each category of animal was 2.5 lactating cows, 1.4 lactating buffaloes, 1.8 replacement cows, 1.6 replacement buffaloes, 2.0 retired cows, 1.3 retired buffaloes and 1.0 ox per farm. The emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) on CO2-equivalent (CO2-eq) basis from feed production, enteric fermentation and manure management were allocated to fat- and protein-corrected milk (FPCM) on the basis of mass balance, price and digestibility. Emissions of CO2, CH4 and N2O from cattle contributed 11.0%, 75.4% and 13.6%, respectively, to the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The contribution of CO2, CH4 and N2O from buffalo was 8.2%, 80.5% and 11.3%, respectively, to the total GHG emissions of farms. The average carbon footprint (CF) of cow milk was 2.3, 1.9 and 2.0 kg CO2-eq/kg FPCM on mass, economic and digestibility basis, respectively, whereas for buffalo, milk CF was 3.0, 2.5 and 2.7 kg CO2-eq/kg FPCM, respectively. On the basis of digestibility allocation, emissions from retired (>10 years of age and incapable of or ceased producing milk) cows and buffaloes were 1571.3 and 2556.1 kg CO2-eq/retirement year, respectively. Overall, the CF of milk production under the smallholder dairy system in Anand district was 2.2 kg CO2-eq/kg FPCM, which reduced to 1.7 kg CO2-eq/kg FPCM when milk, manure, finance and insurance were considered as economic functions of the smallholder system. The CF was lower by 65% and 22% for cow and buffalo milk, respectively, than were the estimates of FAO for southern Asia, and this was mainly attributed to difference in the sources of GHG emissions, manure management systems, feed digestibility and milk production data used by FAO.

A review of the genetic and non-genetic factors affecting extended lactation in pasture-based dairy systems

2015 ◽  
Vol 55 (8) ◽  
pp. 949 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Abdelsayed ◽  
Peter C. Thomson ◽  
Herman W. Raadsma
Keyword(s):  
Milk Production ◽  
Milk Yield ◽  
Genetic Factors ◽  
Genetic Selection ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Environmental Interactions ◽  
Holstein Friesian ◽  
Component Traits ◽  
Dairy Systems ◽  
Extended Lactation

Milk production per cow has significantly increased over the last 50 years due to the strong genetic selection for increased milk production; associated with this increased production has been a decline in reproductive performance. As a result, superior-yielding cows that have failed to get into calf in a traditional 12-month calving system may be carried over and milked continuously for another 6 months instead of being culled. Studies indicate that cows are able to achieve lactations greater than 305 days and up to 670 days under pasture-based systems, with and without the use of supplementary feeds. Extended lactations of 16 months are most common and economically viable in Australian dairy systems. These findings indicate a potential role for extended lactation in countries such as Australia, where pasture-based dairy systems in which Holstein-Friesian dairy cows predominate. However, variation between cows in their milk yield profiles and the ability of cows to reach a planned dry-off date over an extended lactation occurs depending on the cow’s genetic strain, nutrition and environmental interactions, with certain strains of cow being better suited to extended lactation than others. The focus of this review is to examine the scope for genetic improvement as well as important considerations (non-genetic factors) when selecting suitable animals for extended lactation in pasture-based dairy systems, with an emphasis on Australian systems. These considerations include the impacts of cow strain, nutrition, milk production, and biological and economical costs associated with extended lactation. Methods for modelling extended lactation and estimating genetic parameters of lactation persistency, milk yield and component traits under extended lactation will be addressed and future directions for further research suggested.

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