Targeting environmental and technical parameters through eco-efficiency criteria for Iberian pig farms in the dehesa ecosystem

Eco-efficiency could be defined as the simultaneous ability to achieve acceptable economic results with the least possible environmental degradation. Its analysis in crop and livestock production systems has become a hot topic among politicians and scientists. Pig pasture production systems are in high commercial demand because they are associated with high quality and environmentally friendly products. This work aimed to assess the eco-efficiency of pig farms and subsequently explore the determinants of inefficiency in the dehesa ecosystem in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Farmers from 35 randomly selected farms were interviewed to obtain farm-level data. The eco-efficiency level was calculated through a joined data envelopment analysis (DEA) and life cycle assessment (LCA) approach. Subsequently, a truncated Tobit model was applied to determine factors associated with inefficiency. The results of the research revealed that Iberian pig farms are highly eco-efficient. The estimated average eco-efficiency score is 0.919 and ranges from 0.479 to 1, suggesting that the average farm could increase its value by about 8.1%. This means that the aggregate environmental pressures could be reduced by approximately this proportion (8%) while maintaining the same input level. The determinants related to social and demographic characteristics that positively affected eco-efficiency were the number of children, while years of farm activity and educational level had a negative effect. On the other hand, farm’s characteristics and the type of management, the percentage of own surface area, the percentage of livestock use, and the high proportion of pigs fattened in montanera, positively affected the eco-efficiency level

Economic optimization of feeding and shipping strategies in pig-fattening units with an individual-based model

International audience The economic results of pig farming systems are highly variable and depend on the price of feeds, pig performance, and pork price.  Shipping strategy affects farm income since over- and under-weight pigs tend to lose in the gross margin.  Therefore, feeding and shipping strategies are major levers for improvement

Life Cycle Assessment of Iberian Traditional Pig Production System in Spain

Traditional Iberian pig production is characterized by outdoor systems that produce animals fed with natural resources. The aim of this study was to assess the environmental impacts of such systems through Life Cycle Assessment. Environmental impacts were analysed per kilogram of live weight at farm gate. Iberian pig production in montanera had the lowest impacts for climate change (CC), acidification (AC), eutrophication (EU) and cumulative energy demand (CED), being 3.4 kg CO2 eq, 0.091 molc H+ eq, 0.046 kg PO43− eq, and 20.7 MJ, respectively, due to the strict use of natural resources (acorns and grass) during the fattening period. As Iberian farms had a greater dependence on compound feed in cebo campo, environmental impacts on CC, AC, EU and CED were 22, 17, 95 and 28% higher, respectively, than with montanera. For land occupation (LO), however, cebo campo had a lower impact (31.6 m2·year) than montanera (43.0 m2·year) system. Traditional Iberian pig production systems have environmental impacts higher than conventional systems studied in literature but are similar to other traditional systems. Based on the present assessment, it is necessary to account for the contribution of emissions resulting from the consumption of natural resources to avoid the underestimation of environmental impacts.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Ecoconception des aliments destinés aux porcs : analyse d’incertitude

Reducing environmental impacts of the livestock sector remains a priority. Formulating eco-feeds with lower impacts can be used as one mechanism. Doing so requires knowledge about feedstuff impacts, such as those contained in the ECOALIM database. As this database provides average values at a national scale, it can have high uncertainty due to the large variability in production techniques and soil/climate contexts for crops. Thus, the purpose of this study was to assess the relevance of eco-designing feed based on average national values. Uncertainty analysis was performed considering the variability in impact of the main crops used for pig feeds: wheat, maize, barley, rapeseed and sunflower and their processed co-products. This was applied to formulate eco-feeds within various economic contexts and conditions of feedstuff availability. A random sample (n = 500-1000) was created by drawing environmental impact values from a normal distribution truncated by minimum and maximum values. Each dataset was used to compare impacts of the eco-feed with those of an average standard feed. The effect of incorporation rates of feedstuffs was also analysed. For the impacts “energy consumption” and “climate change”, and for many feedstuffs, the use of national average data of environmental impacts appeared suitable for an eco-design implementation by feed manufacturers. Nonetheless, the ECOALIM dataset needs to be enriched with more detailed data for certain feedstuffs, such as maize and wheat, and also for certain impacts, such as “phosphorus use” and “land use”.Réduire les impacts environnementaux des productions animales reste une priorité. Formuler des éco-aliments générant de moindres impacts environnementaux peut constituer un levier d’action. Cette formulation nécessite la connaissance des impacts des intrants alimentaires, ce que rassemble la base de données ECOALIM. Ces données d’impacts sont des valeurs moyennes à l’échelle de la France et, de ce fait, ne rendent pas compte de la grande diversité des itinéraires techniques et des contextes pédoclimatiques. Ainsi, ces valeurs moyennes nationales sont-elles suffisantes pour mettre en oeuvre une écoconception des aliments du bétail ? Cette étude ambitionne d’y répondre en se basant sur une analyse d’incertitude des impacts des principales matières premières utilisées en alimentation animale (blé, maïs, orge, colza, tournesol, et leurs coproduits transformés), et des impacts des éco-aliments formulés soit à partir de données moyennes, soit à partir de données spécifiques, pour différents contextes économiques et de disponibilité en matières premières. Un échantillonnage aléatoire (N entre 500 et 1000) a été réalisé en tirant les valeurs d’impacts des matières premières dans une loi normale bornée par des valeurs minimales et maximales. Chaque jeu de données est utilisé pour comparer les impacts environnementaux et les taux d’incorporation des matières premières entre les aliments formulés à moindre coût et les éco-aliments. Pour les impacts changement climatique et consommation d’énergie, les moyennes nationales d’impacts environnementaux des matières premières s’avèrent suffisantes pour l’écoconception en permettant de réduire effectivement les impacts par rapport à la formulation à moindre coût. Les résultats sont plus variables pour les impacts consommation de phosphore et occupation des sols. De même, certaines matières premières comme le blé et le maïs requièrent des itinéraires plus précis qu’une simple situation moyenne nationale

Spatially explicit estimates of N2O emissions from croplands suggest climate mitigation opportunities from improved fertilizer management

With increasing nitrogen (N) application to croplands required to support growing food demand, mitigating N2O emissions from agricultural soils is a global challenge. National greenhouse gas emissions accounting typically estimates N2O emissions at the country scale by aggregating all crops, under the assumption that N2O emissions are linearly related to N application. However, field studies and meta-analyses indicate a nonlinear relationship, in which N2O emissions are relatively greater at higher N application rates. Here we apply a super-linear emissions response model to crop-specific, spatially-explicit synthetic N fertilizer and manure N inputs to provide subnational accounting of global N2O emissions from croplands. We estimate 0.66 Tg of N2O-N direct global emissions circa 2000, with 50% of emissions concentrated in 13% of harvested area. Compared to estimates from the IPCC Tier 1 linear model, our updated N2O emissions range from 20-40% lower throughout Sub-Saharan Africa and Eastern Europe, to >120% greater in some Western European countries. At low N application rates, the weak non-linear response of N2O emissions suggests that relatively large increases in N fertilizer application would generate relatively small increases in N2O emissions. Since aggregated fertilizer data generate underestimation bias in nonlinear models, high-resolution N application data are critical to support accurate N2O emissions estimates

An Interstellar Conduction Front Within a Wolf-Rayet Ring Nebula Observed with the GHRS

With the High Resolution Spectrograph aboard the Hubble Space Telescope we obtained high signal-to-noise (S/N > 200 - 600 per 17 km/s resolution element) spectra of narrow absorption lines toward the Wolf-Rayet star HD 50896. The ring nebula S308 that surrounds this star is thought to be caused by a pressure-driven bubble bounded by circumstellar gas (most likely from a red supergiant or luminous blue variable progenitor) pushed aside by a strong stellar wind. Our observation has shown for the first time that blueshifted (approximately 70 km/s relative to the star) absorption components of C IV and N V arise in a conduction front between the hot interior of the bubble and the cold shell of swept-up material. These lines set limits on models of the conduction front. Nitrogen in the shell appears to be overabundant by a factor ~10. The P Cygni profiles of N V and C IV are variable, possibly due to a suspected binary companion to HD 50896.Comment: 32 pages, Latex, to appear in the Astrophysical Journal, April, 199

Mogador - Modélisation de l’atelier d’engraissement porcin pour prédire ses résultats économiques et ses impacts environnementaux

To meet economic and environmental challenges of pig production, farmers need tools to assess the impact of their facilities, identify possible improvements and be guided in their technical and economic management. A model of the pig fattening unit has been developed for this purpose as part of the MOGADOR project. Based on the characteristics of the structure and the main farming practices, the model produces the technical and economic results and its environmental impacts by Life Cycle Assessment approach. The originality and the performance of the model reside in the fact that it takes into account the variability of the individual performances of the pigs, in interaction with the practices of the breeding (driving, feeding) and its structure (rooms of fattening). The model was evaluated according to three main stages: expertise, sensitivity analysis and comparison of predicted results toobserved results. The predictive quality of the model and the calibration procedure make it possible to consider using the model for research and advisory services. A first decision support tool is available on Internet to consult a library of simulations performed with the model. The analyzes can then be completed by using the expert model.Pour répondre aux enjeux économiques et environnementaux de la production porcine, les éleveurs ont besoin d’outils pour apprécier l’impact de leur atelier, identifier les pistes d’amélioration et être guidés dans leur pilotage technico-économique. Un modèle de l’atelier d’engraissement a été développé en ce sens dans le cadre du projet MOGADOR. À partir des caractéristiques de la structure de l’atelier et des principales pratiques d’élevage, le modèle produit les résultats techniques et économiques de l’atelier et ses impacts environnementaux par Analyse du Cycle de Vie. L’originalité et la performance du modèle résident dans le fait qu’il prend en compte la variabilité des performances individuelles des porcs, en interaction avec les pratiques de l’élevage (conduite, alimentation) et sa structure (salles d’engraissement). Le modèle a été évalué suivant trois grandes étapes : par expertise, par analyse de sensibilité et par comparaison de résultats prédits à des résultats observés. La qualité de prédiction dumodèle et la procédure d’étalonnage établie permettent d’envisager une utilisation du modèle pour la recherche et pour le conseil en élevage. Un premier outil d’aide à la décision est disponible sur Internet pour consulter une bibliothèque de simulations réalisées à l’aide du modèle. Les analyses peuvent ensuite être complétées par l’utilisation du modèle expert

Future development of apricot blossom blight under climate change in Southern France

International audienceClimate change will have several consequences for agro-systems, one of which will concern changes to the development of pathogens. Because of the losses it causes, particularly in organic farming, Monilinia laxa is an important pathogen affecting apricot crops. This study focuses on the consequences of climate change regarding blossom and twig blight (Monilinia laxa) of apricot. To achieve this, a Climatic Index of cumulated Blight risk (CIB) was built, to obtain the weighted sum of blossom blight incidence throughout the blooming period. An epidemiological model to calculate the incidence of blossom blight during every potentially infectious episode and based on biological parameters, was calibrated using a trap pot experiment where trees were placed in orchards and subject to various meteorological conditions. The CIB derived from this model was evaluated on field data, and was shown to be a robust and useful tool to predict the effects of climate change on the development of apricot blight. Then, using the CIB with a phenological model to predict blooming periods in the future, we estimated the risks of apricot blight until 2100 on four contrasted apricot cultivars and in three geographical zones under climate change scenarios RCP 4.5 and 8.5. This study revealed different effects of climate change depending on the cultivar and altitude. Apricot trees would bloom earlier (up to a difference of 50 days between 1950 and 2100) under climate change. Under the combined effects of these shifts of blooming period and changing climatic conditions, late cultivars such as Bergarouge might see a reduction in the risk of blossom blight (down to 31%) because of warmer but dryer blooming periods. Other varieties (e.g.: Bergeron) could experience an increase in this risk by up to 27% with a shift of the blooming period towards rainier conditions at the highest altitudes. The results of this study could be used to anticipate future changes as well as be used at present as a decision-support tool for farmers

Theoretical spectra of photoevaporating protoplanetary discs: An atlas of atomic and low-ionisation emission lines

We present a calculation of the atomic and low-ionisation emission line spectra of photoevaporating protoplanetary discs. Line luminosities and profiles are obtained from detailed photoionisation calculations of the disc and wind structures surrounding young active solar-type stars. The disc and wind density and velocity fields were obtained from the recently developed radiation-hydrodynamic models of Owen et al., that include stellar X-ray and EUV irradiation of protoplanetary discs at various stages of clearing, from primordial sources to inner hole sources of various hole sizes. Our models compare favourably with currently available observations, lending support to an X-ray driven photoevaporation model for disc dispersal. In particular, we find that X-rays drive a warm, predominantly neutral flow where the OI 6300A line can be produced by neutral hydrogen collisional excitation. Our models can, for the first time, provide a very good match to both luminosities and profiles of the low-velocity component of the OI 6300A line and other forbidden lines observed by Hartigan et al., which covered a large sample of T-Tauri stars. We find that the OI 6300A and the NeII 12.8um lines are predominantly produced in the X-ray-driven wind and thus appear blue-shifted by a few km/s for some of the systems when observed at non-edge-on inclinations. We note however that blue-shifts are only produced under certain conditions: X-ray luminosity, spectral shape and inner hole size all affect the location of the emitting region and the physical conditions in the wind. We caution therefore that while a blueshifted line is a tell-tale sign of an outflow, the lack of a blueshift should not be necessarily interpreted as a lack of outflow.Comment: 18 pages, 7 figures, accepted to be published in MNRAS - changes in the revised version: reference list update