scholarly journals Demonstrating the Effect of Forage Source on the Carbon Footprint of a Canadian Dairy Farm Using Whole-Systems Analysis and the Holos Model: Alfalfa Silage vs. Corn Silage

Climate ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shannan Little ◽  
Chaouki Benchaar ◽  
H. Janzen ◽  
Roland Kröbel ◽  
Emma McGeough ◽  
...  
Author(s):  
Giulia Borghesi ◽  
Giuseppe Vignali

Agriculture and food manufacturing have a considerable effect on the environment emissions: holdings and farms play an important role about greenhouse gas emissions and water consumption. This study aims at evaluating the environmental impact of one of the most important Italian DOP product: organic Parmesan Cheese. Environmental performances of the whole dairy supply chain have been assessed according to the life cycle assessment approach (LCA). In this analysis Parmesan Cheese is made from an organic dairy farm in Emilia Romagna, which uses the milk from three different organic livestock productions. Organic agriculture is different from conventional; the major difference is represented by the avoidance of the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides made in chemical industry process. Organic agriculture uses organic fertilizers to encourage the natural fertility of the soil respecting the environment and the agro-system. In this case, life cycle approach is used to assess the carbon footprint and the water footprint of organic Parmesan Cheese considering the milk and cheese production. The object at this level is investigating the environmental impact considering the situation before some improvement changes. The functional unit is represented by 1 kg of organic Parmesan Cheese; inventory data refer to the situation in year 2017 and system boundaries consider the inputs related to the cattle and dairy farm until the ripening (included). The carbon footprint is investigated using IPCC 2013 Global Warming Potential (GWP) 100a method, developed by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and reported in kg of CO2eq. Otherwise, water footprint allows to measure the water consumption and in this work it is assessed using AWARE method (Available Water REmaining).


1977 ◽  
Vol 57 (4) ◽  
pp. 769-773 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. N. MOWAT ◽  
J. W. WILTON ◽  
J. G. BUCHANAN-SMITH

Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of monensin with growing and finishing cattle. In experiment 1, 80 Hereford steer calves were fed two different silage rations. With alfalfa silage, monensin increased weight gains (+12%) and feed efficiency (P < 0.05) (+11%). When high moisture (HM) shelled corn was fed along with alfalfa silage, monensin had no effect on weight gains, but increased feed efficiency (P < 0.05) (+12%) largely by decreasing (P > 0.05) feed intake. In experiment 2, 72 steer and heifer crossbred calves were fed corn silage for 112 days followed by high levels of HM shelled corn through to marketing at a constant finish. Over an average total of 258 days on feed, monensin increased (P < 0.05) rate of gain (+9%) as well as feed efficiency (+13%). Monensin produced no effects on carcass characteristics. At least part of the improvement in feed efficiency could be attributed to altered ruminal fermentation. Molar percentage of propionic acid was increased (P < 0.05) and butyric and acetic acid decreased (P < 0.05) with monensin feeding.


1994 ◽  
Vol 74 (3) ◽  
pp. 563-566 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. S. Mir ◽  
Z. Mir

Trials were conducted to determine the effect of supplementing feedlot diets with live-yeast culture (YC), lasalocid (LAS) or YC + LAS on intake, growth and carcass characteristics of steers. Dietary additives in either 96% corn-silage or 75% dry-rolled barley-based diets increased (P < 0.05) final weights and carcass weights of steers. Key words: Yeast, lasalocid, steers, carcass quality, growth


Agronomy ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcos Cordeiro ◽  
Alan Rotz ◽  
Roland Kroebel ◽  
Karen Beauchemin ◽  
Derek Hunt ◽  
...  

Forage production in northern latitudes is challenging and uncertain in the future. In this case-study, the integrated farm system model (IFSM) was used to assess the impact of climate change and cropland expansion scenarios on forage production in a dairy farm in Newfoundland, Canada. Climatic projections indicated increases in temperature in the recent past (1990–2016) and under any future climate (2020–2079), thus enhancing agronomic performance. Temperature increases ranged from 2.8 °C to 5.4 °C in winter and from 3.2 °C to 6.4 °C in spring. Small precipitation increases (<10%) create narrower time windows to perform farm operations in the already stringent condition of excess moisture in the region. Results of land use scenarios including expansions of 20, 30, and 40% in cropland area, out of which 5% was dedicated to corn silage and the remainder to grass-legume mixtures, indicated increased yield and total production. Improvements in grass-legume yield ranged from 8% to 52%. The full range of production increases ranged from 11% to 105%. Increments in corn silage yield ranged from 28% to 69%. Total farm corn silage production increases ranged from 29% to 77%. An attainable cropland expansion of 20% would enable the farm to become self-sufficient in forage production under any climate scenario.


2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 413-423 ◽  
Author(s):  
Snezana Djordjevic ◽  
Violeta Mandic ◽  
Dragana Stanojevic

Alfalfa silage is a useful source of protein for feeding ruminants. Therefore, managing alfalfa silage in livestock production systems is an important issue in order to maintain the silage quality and achieve maximum profitable production of milk and meat. The aim of this investigation was to estimate the effects of bacterial inoculant Silko, containing Lactobacillus plantarum (strains: LP1, LP2, LP3 and LP4) on chemical composition, energetic characteristics and fermentation alfalfa silage under field conditions in the commercial dairy farm, during the 2016. The first-cut alfalfa in the second year has been conserved in silage form. The silage mass was subdivided into two equal parts (control (silage without inoculant) and silages treated with bacterial inoculant Silko) and ensiled in trench silo. After 60 days of ensiling, the silages were analysed. Dry matter, ash, crude protein, lactic acid, acetic acid, total digestible nutrients value and relative feed value were significantly higher in silage treated with bacterial inoculant Silko compared to control. Contrary, alfalfa silage treated with a bacterial inoculant Silko had lower values of cellulose, acid detergent fibre, neutral detergent fibre, nonnitro extractive matter, pH, butyric acid, soluble nitrogen/total nitrogen and NH3- N/total nitrogen than untreated silage. Results showed that bacterial inoculant Silko increases silage quality compared to control so that research should be directed toward the use of such prepared silage in ruminant diets and its impact on milk and meat production on farms.


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