Is automatic milking acceptable in organic dairy farming? Quantification of sustainability indicators

The objective of this research, was to quantify sustainability indicators of organic dairy farms using Automatic Milking Systems (AMS), and a comparative group of organic dairy farms using conventional milking systems (CMS). Milk yield per cow was higher for AMS farms but did not result in higher net return to management. Nitrogen surplus per ha of available land was higher for AMS farms, Animal health was unaffected by AMS use, as also most milk quality aspects; somatic cell count, clostridium spores and urea. Acid degree value (ADV), measured as free fatty acids (FFA) in the milk, was higher in milk from AMS users. Labour time was decreased by almost 50% for AMS users, to 2.3 min/cow/day. It could be concluded from quantification of selected indicators on economy, environment, cow health, milk quality, and labour time, that the organic dairy farms using AMS, in spite of the substantial decrease in grazing time, show potential for a sustainable development

Environmental evaluation of three alternative futures for organic dairy in Denmark.

Objective of this study was to explore sustainability of scenarios for organic dairy farming based on visions and goals of the future, by parameterization at farm level. The scenarios were in agreement with the scope of principles for organic farming; health, ecology, fairness and care. Scenarios were designed using stakeholder and expert opinions and then translate them through choice of relevant production parameters to a farm unit design. This resulted in three vision-based scenarios, one animal welfare (ANW), one environmental (ENV) and one using all possible new technologies to enhance productivity and efficiency (business as usual, BAU). The amount of milk produced per ha was, 9500, 7215 and 5188 kg ECM respectively for BAU, ANW and ENV. Stocking density was 1.41, 1.38, and 0.88 Livestock Units respectively for BAU, ANW and ENV, parallel to large differences in required import of feed. The different organic farms of the future are to be evaluated on the environmental impacts, green house gas (GHG) emissions, nitrogen surplus and energy use, economy, and social acceptance

Effect of farming system changes on life cycle assessment indicators for dairy farms in the Italian Alps.

In some Alpine areas dairy farming is going through a process of intensification with significant changes in farming systems. The aim of this study was to investigate environmental performance of a sample of 31 dairy farms in an Alpine area of Lombardy with different levels of intensification. A cradle to farm gate life cycle assessment was performed including the following impact categories: land use, non-renewable energy use, climate change, acidification and eutrophication. From a cluster analysis it resulted that the group of farms with lowest environmental impacts were characterized by low stocking density and production intensity; farms that combined good environmental performances with medium gross margins were characterized also by high feed self-sufficiency and lowland availability. Environmental impacts of dairy farms in the mountain areas could be mitigated by the improvement of forage production and quality and by the practice of summer highland grazing, that significantly reduced eutrophication per kg of milk of the less self-sufficient farms

Integrated ecological hotspot identification of organic egg production

Ecological sustainability in agriculture is a concept that contains various environmental problems, which are caused by emission of compounds during different processes along the food chain. A precise ecological analysis of farming systems and food chains is needed in order to suggest and implement effective measures to improve sustainability. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) assesses the environmental impact along the entire chain. In this research, LCA was used to locate environmental hotspots within the organic egg production chain and explore options that substantially improve ecological sustainability using sensitivity analysis. The environmental impact was expressed per kg of organic egg leaving the farm gate. Five environmental impact categories were included: 1) climate change i.e., emission of CO2, CH4 and N2O, 2) eutrophication i.e., emission of NH3, NOx, N2O and leaching of NO3 - and PO4 -, 3) acidification i.e., emission of NH3, NOx, and SOx, 4) fossil energy use i.e., oil, gas, uranium and coal and 5) land use. In case of a multifunctional process, economic allocation was used. We interviewed 20 out of 68 Dutch organic egg farmers to collect farm data for 2006. Data on transport, feed, rearing and hatching were gathered by the conduction of interviews with suppliers and from literature. The Life Cycle Inventories of electricity, natural gas, tap water, transport and cultivation originated from the Eco-Invent V2.0 dataset. A sensitivity analysis was executed for production parameters from the laying hen farm. To identify hotspots, the relative contribution of transportation, feed production, rearing and hatching and the laying hen farm, as well as the contribution of various compounds to each impact category was determined. We identified a chaincompound combination as a hotspot if it contributed to more than 40% of the total of the environmental impact category. Results showed four hotspots. First, 62% of climate change was caused by emission of N2O from soils during growing of feed. Second, 57% of acidification was caused by NH3 emission from the laying hen farm. Third, 47% of energy use was oil used for cultivation of feed and fourth, 95% of the land use was arable land required for feed production. We identified no hotspot for eutrophication, but feed production contributed most with 37% nitrogen leaching and 26% PO4 - leaching. From the sensitivity analysis it appeared that the most sensitive parameters on an organic laying hen farm are the number of produced eggs, the amount of feed consumed and the housing system. An increase in average egg production from 276 with a SD of 39 eggs per laying hen reduced climate change with 13%, acidification with 15%, eutrophication with 13%, energy use with 12% and land use with 12%. A reduction in average annual feed consumption from 42.9 kg with the SD of 7.2 kg per laying hen reduced climate change with 14%, acidification with 17%, eutrophication with 15%, energy use with 14% and land use with 13%. A shift from deep litter housing to an aviary housing with manure drying reduced climate change with 11%, acidification with 53%, eutrophication with 18% and had no effect on land use. The effect on energy use is still being assessed. We conclude that feed conversion and housing are effective ecological optimization options for organic laying hen farmers. However ecological sound feed production also needs attention

Potential of LCA for designing technological innovations – the case of organic eggs

Ecological sustainability in agriculture is a concept that contains various environmental problems, which are caused by emission of pollutants and unsustainable use of limited resources, during different processes along the food chain. Technological innovations may help to improve ecological sustainability of food products. Preceding to the development of ecological sustainable technological innovations three questions need to be answered; 1) how ecological sustainable is the current production process, 2) which processes in the chain causes the highest ecological impact and 3) which production parameters significantly affect the ecological impact of these processes? The aim of this research is to demonstrate Life Cycle Assessment to the designers of technological innovations Life Cycle Assessment as a method to answer these questions, by means of a case study of the organic egg. In this study the LCA of organic eggs was calculated and compared to equivalent egg products. Ecological hotspots within the production chain were identified and the effectiveness of production parameters from the laying hen farm were identified on the LCA using sensitivity analysis. This LCA case study showed that organic eggs score worse than equivalent eggs on acidification, eutrophication and land use. Technological innovators should focus on ammonia emission from the laying hen farm to reduce the impact of acidification. Another focus should be nitrate leaching during concentrate production to reduce eutrophication. Innovative organic laying hen farmers may focus on a high feed conversion to improve the LCA of organic eggs in a broader sense. A shift from single tiered housing of laying hens to multi tiered housing with manure drying on manure belts, can reduce acidification 53% and eutrophication with 18%, almost enough to level out the 60% higher acidification and the 25% higher eutrophication of organic eggs compared to equivalent egg products

De kracht van het verschil: diversiteit in duurzaamheid van dierhouderijsystemen

De discussie over de invloed van de mens op haar leefomgeving is van alle tijden. De urgentie van deze discussie neemt echter toe als gevolg van de groei van de wereldbevolking en veranderende voedings- en consumptiepatronen. Een vraag die steeds terugkeert is "Hoe kunnen wij deze wereldbevolking in haar behoeften voorzien?"

Innovation born of Integration : Moving towards sustainable production of animal-source food

Livestock production stands at a critical crossroad. Its environmental impact is more severe and more visible because of population growth, rising incomes, and urbanization. Production with respect for the welfare of animals is an important issue in Europe and, increasingly, across the world. Can we produce animal-source food while respecting the environment, the animal and the different actors in the production chain? In this lecture, I will address the importance of "integration" to reveal new directions for the production and consumption of animal-source food