Download or read book Life Cycle Eco efficiency of Grass fed Beef Production Systems in the Northeast U S written by Jasmine Ashley Dillon and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As ruminants, beef cattle are converters of human-inedible biomass into edible, high quality protein. The environmental costs of their role as upcyclers are their direct and indirect contribution to environmental emissions which negatively affect air and water quality, and their consumption of finite natural resources. Grass-fed beef has been touted in recent years as an environmentally friendly alternative to conventionally produced beef due to its exclusive reliance on forages, which are human-inedible feedstuffs. The purpose of this study was to characterize grass-fed beef production systems in the Northeast U.S., and to evaluate them for their intensities in greenhouse gas emission, reactive nitrogen loss, blue water consumption, and fossil energy consumption, and their cost of production. To this end, grass-fed beef producers across the Northeast were surveyed and interviewed about their land, animal, and feed management practices. Representative production systems were defined based upon similarities in management practices and their location within the region according to the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone map. Once categorized, systems were analyzed for differences in herd composition, animal performance, land management, and animal productivity defined as the total market weight produced divided by either the on-farm or total land use. Most farms managed cattle from birth through finishing on the same farm. Animal productivity per hectare was up to two and a half times greater in warmer zones than in cooler zones, likely attributable to grazing seasons that were 1 to 4.5 months longer and stocking rates that were 44 to 60% denser, both of which are a reflection of greater forage yield in warmer zones. Herd composition and animal performance were similar across zones. Farms were further classified according to their status as either feed sufficient (all feeds required to support the herd and finish market cattle were produced on the farm) or feed importing (all feeds aside from pasture required to support the herd and finish market cattle were purchased). Feed importing farms were about half the size of feed sufficient farms, but used about 37% more land per animal, resulting in 60% lower productivity per hectare. These results translated into 38% greater reactive nitrogen loss (172 to 203 and 252 to 269 g N/kg live-weight for feed sufficient, and feed importing farms, respectively) and 78% greater fossil energy consumption (22 to 24 and 40 to 56 MJ/kg live-weight for feed sufficient, and feed importing farms, respectively) intensities (footprints) for feed importing farms than feed sufficient farms within zones. Differences in GHG emissions (18 to 30 and 20 to 30 kg CO2-equivalents/kg live-weight for feed sufficient, and feed importing farms, respectively) and blue water consumption (59 to 72 and 57 to 69 L H2O/kg live-weight for feed sufficient, and feed importing farms, respectively) intensities across farm types were negligible within zones. Greenhouse gas emission intensities differed more across zones due to differences in underlying soil texture and climate. Cost of production per hectare was 1.5 times greater for feed sufficient farms than for feed importing farms. Overall, feed sufficient farms were more eco-efficient than feed importing farms, as they had both lower environmental impact intensities and cost of production. Measures to improve the eco-efficiency of either system are difficult, as two major underlying drivers of these differences are underlying soil textures and farm size. Irrespective of production system, managing nitrogen dynamics on these farms should be a priority. Nitrogen losses via leaching through the soil profile, nitrification, and denitrification processes were significant contributors to both the reactive nitrogen loss and greenhouse gas emission intensities. Controlling these losses should lead to improvements in eco-efficiency, provided there are not tradeoffs between impact categories or increases in per-unit cost of production without corresponding increases in prices received. Future research should explore the potential for manipulating protein to carbohydrate ratios in pasture via use of plant diversification, incorporation of annual forages in cropping systems, and strategic supplemental forage feeding to improve the eco-efficiency of Northeast U.S. grass-fed beef systems. In addition, social influences on management practices should be explored in order to develop more targeted interventions for nitrogen management on each farm type, as this likely underlies differences in farm size between the farm types explored in this dissertation.

Download or read book A Life Cycle Assessment of the Beef Cattle Production System for the Northern Great Plains US written by Christopher D. Lupo and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A life cycle assessment (LCA) model was developed to estimate the environmental impacts associated with four different management practices for beef production in the Northern Great Plains (NGP) U.S. The ISO-compliant model followed a "gate to gate" approach, and included feed production, feed manufacturing and pumping, mineral/supplement production, transportation, enteric emissions, and manure emissions and handling. Four distinct operation scenarios were modeled based on production strategies common to the NGP: normal operation, early weaning of the calf, fast-track backgrounding, and grassfed. Model results were normalized to one kg beef carcass, and midpoint impacts (climate change, soil acidification, freshwater and marine eutrophication, and terrestrial ecotoxicity) and endpoint impacts (damage to human health, ecosystem diversity, and resource availability) were assessed. For all operations, the enteric emissions were the largest contributor to climate change, human health, and ecosystem diversity. Manure emissions and handling was the largest contributor to the remaining midpoint impact categories, while mineral/supplement production and feed production were the largest effect on resource availability. There was little variability between scenarios except for the grassfed, where there was a substantial increase (37%) in the climate change impact. Reductions in climate change were realized when soil organic carbon accrual was considered. Possible mitigation options with respect to diet manipulation and management strategies were discussed, and can be used for guidance by producers, environmental practitioners, and policy makers.

Download or read book Livestock s Long Shadow written by Henning Steinfeld and published by Food & Agriculture Org.. This book was released on 2006 with total page 418 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The assessment builds on the work of the Livestock, Environment and Development (LEAD) Initiative"--Pref.

Download or read book Life Cycle Assessment of Integrated Crop Livestock Production System in Northern Great Plains United States written by Prashansa Shrestha and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page 554 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This dissertation focuses on the scientific quantification of environmental impacts of agricultural management to understand the life cycle of a cradle-to-field-gate production system. Agricultural systems must include efficient land use, economic resources, and reduce environmental impacts to meet sustainable food production goals. Anthropogenic activity has a significant and on-going impact on agroecosystems. The growing global food demand, grain and meat yields, residue and land use, and resource limitations have a significant role in increasing ecosystem service impacts. The general hypothesis is that a business-as-usual (BAU) scenario is not a sustainable agricultural production system. The objective of this research is to understand environmental burdens in the agricultural sytem of the northern Great Plains (NGP) using life cycle assessment (LCA). Three phases of studies are included: 1) agronomy, 2) livestock, and 3) integrated crop livestock system (ICL) within no-till farm practices of NGP.

Download or read book Life Cycle Assessment of the Feed Supply Chain in California Beef Production written by Samantha June Werth and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The environmental impacts of livestock production have most commonly been determined through the use of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). There have been several cradle-to-farm-gate LCA for beef production around the world, but only two comprehensive cradle-to-grave LCA for beef production. The present review aims to: (1) assess beef production LCAs to date, (2) determine where variation among methodologies affect LCA outcomes, and (3) identify areas where further LCA are necessary. Twenty-two beef production LCA studies from peer-reviewed scientific journals and scientific reports were identified and analyzed, spanning a range of geographic locations and beef production systems in various parts of the world. The wide variety of LCA focusing on various areas of beef production provides a solid foundation for future beef LCA to build upon. Most common impacts included in beef LCAs are global warming, land use, energy, acidification, eutrophication, and water use. Of these categories global warming has, by far, been the impact most greatly assessed. While other categories have been addressed to some extent, methodologies for quantifying these impacts are variable and lead to a wide range of results. This warrants a need for a harmonized and standardized method for performing a complete beef LCA. The variety in type of beef system under review and methodologies used throughout the development of each LCA creates substantial variation in results. Future beef LCAs will need to further investigate the impacts of land use, energy, acidification, eutrophication, and water so that there may be a more comprehensive overview of the impacts of beef production on the environment. Currently, there is not a standard for performing a LCA in beef production though review of the literature indicates a great need. With the formation of a universal standard for performing beef LCA, it will become easier to compare production systems around the world and to identify areas where mitigation strategies are most needed in beef production.One area where standardization can be achieved is the assessment of feeds and diets fed to cattle in beef cattle production. The United Nation's Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) along with numerous partner entities has worked to create guidelines for quantification of the environmental performance of animal feed supply chains as a result of the Livestock Environmental Assessment and Performance (LEAP) Partnership. The goal of the present study is to determine the climate change impact from the feed supply chain associated with production of 1 kg total mixed ration (TMR) for a finisher feedlot ration typical of California, USA (kg CO2e kg−1 TMR). This was achieved following LEAP guidelines and methodology. Inventory data for a typical finisher TMR was collected. System boundaries included feed production (including crop and feed additives), transportation (from field or factory to feedmill), and feedmill compound feed production. Given the scope of the study, primary data were hardly available. In accordance with LEAP guidelines, secondary data were sourced from national databases and Ecoinvent[trademark symbol] unit process data. Three scenarios were assessed as a result of allocation at the transportation step. Scenario A assumed that once a feed ingredient was transported to the feedmill, 100% of the empty return load would be allocated to the TMR production. For Scenario B and Scenario C, 50% and 0%, respectively, of the empty return load was allocated to TMR production. Total GHG emissions were determined to be 0.630 kg CO2e/ kg TMR for Scenario A, 0.576 kg CO2e/ kg TMR for Scenario B, and 0.521 kg CO2e/ kg TMR for Scenario C. Corn production, transportation, and liquid premix production were the main contributors to the life cycle impacts of TMR production. The present study may serve as a tool for future LCA practitioners to utilize and may inform future decisions for improvements or alterations of the LEAP guidelines.

Download or read book Beef 2007 08 written by and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Life Cycle Assessment in the Agri food Sector written by Bruno Notarnicola and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-01-06 with total page 408 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book presents an overview of the International practices and state-of-the-art of LCA studies in the agri-food sector, both in terms of adopted methodologies and application to particular products; the final purpose is to characterise and put order within the methodological issues connected to some important agri-food products (wine, olive oil, cereals and derived products, meat and fruit) and also defining practical guidelines for the implementation of LCAs in this particular sector. The first chapter entails an overview of the application of LCA to the food sector, the role of the different actors of the food supply chain and the methodological issues at a general level. The other chapters, each with a particular reference to the main foods of the five sectors under study, have a common structure which entails the review of LCA case studies of such agri-food products, the methodological issues, the ways with which they have been faced and the suggestion of practical guidelines.

Download or read book Dairy 2007 Reference of dairy cattle health and management practices in the United States 2007 written by and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Food Wastage Footprint written by and published by Food & Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO). This book was released on 2013 with total page 68 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This study provides a worldwide account of the environmental footprint of food wastage along the food supply chain, focusing on impacts on climate, water, land and biodiversity, as well as economic quantification based on producer prices ..."--Introduction.

Download or read book Local Food Systems Concepts Impacts and Issues written by Steve Martinez and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2010-11 with total page 87 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This comprehensive overview of local food systems explores alternative definitions of local food, estimates market size and reach, describes the characteristics of local consumers and producers, and examines early indications of the economic and health impacts of local food systems. Defining ¿local¿ based on marketing arrangements, such as farmers selling directly to consumers at regional farmers¿ markets or to schools, is well recognized. Statistics suggest that local food markets account for a small, but growing, share of U.S. agricultural production. For smaller farms, direct marketing to consumers accounts for a higher percentage of their sales than for larger farms. Charts and tables.

Download or read book Mitigation of Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Livestock Production written by Pierre J. Gerber and published by Food & Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO). This book was released on 2013 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The current analysis was conducted to evaluate the potential of nutritional, manure and animal husbandry practices for mitigating methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) - i.e. non-carbon dioxide (CO2) - GHG emissions from livestock production. These practices were categorized into enteric CH4, manure management and animal husbandry mitigation practices. Emphasis was placed on enteric CH4 mitigation practices for ruminant animals (only in vivo studies were considered) and manure mitigation practices for both ruminant and monogastric species. Over 900 references were reviewed; simulation and life cycle assessment analyses were generally excluded

Download or read book Large Dairy Herd Management written by H. H. Van Horn and published by American Dairy Science Association. This book was released on 1992 with total page 848 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Environmental Life Cycle Assessment Open Access written by Olivier Jolliet and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2015-11-18 with total page 302 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Environmental Life Cycle Assessment is a pivotal guide to identifying environmental problems and reducing related impacts for companies and organizations in need of life cycle assessment (LCA). LCA, a unique sustainability tool, provides a framework that addresses a growing demand for practical technological solutions. Detailing each phase of the LCA methodology, this textbook covers the historical development of LCA, presents the general principles and characteristics of LCA, and outlines the corresponding standards for good practice determined by the International Organization for Standardization. It also explains how to identify the critical aspects of an LCA, provides detailed examples of LCA analysis and applications, and includes illustrated problems and solutions with concrete examples from water management, electronics, packaging, automotive, and other industries. In addition, readers will learn how to: Use consistent criteria to realize and evaluate an LCA independently of individual interests Understand the LCA methodology and become familiar with existing databases and methods based on the latest results of international research Analyze and critique a completed LCA Apply LCA methodology to simple case studies Geared toward graduate and undergraduate students studying environmental science and industrial ecology, as well as practicing environmental engineers, and sustainability professionals who want to teach themselves LCA good practices, Environmental Life Cycle Assessment demonstrates how to conduct environmental assessments for products throughout their life cycles. It presents existing methods and recent developments in the growing field of LCA and systematically covers goal and system definition, life cycle inventory, life cycle impact assessment, and interpretation.

Download or read book Eating on the Wild Side written by Jo Robinson and published by Hachette UK. This book was released on 2013-06-04 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The next stage in the food revolution: a radical way to select fruits and vegetables and reclaim the flavor and nutrients we've lost. Ever since farmers first planted seeds 10,000 years ago, humans have been destroying the nutritional value of their fruits and vegetables. Unwittingly, we've been selecting plants that are high in starch and sugar and low in vitamins, minerals, fiber, and antioxidants for more than 400 generations. Eating on the Wild Side reveals the solution -- choosing modern varieties that approach the nutritional content of wild plants but that also please the modern palate. Jo Robinson explains that many of these newly identified varieties can be found in supermarkets and farmer's market, and introduces simple, scientifically proven methods of preparation that enhance their flavor and nutrition. Based on years of scientific research and filled with food history and practical advice, Eating on the Wild Side will forever change the way we think about food.

Download or read book Managing Cover Crops Profitably 3rd Ed written by Andy Clark and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2008-07 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cover crops slow erosion, improve soil, smother weeds, enhance nutrient and moisture availability, help control many pests and bring a host of other benefits to your farm. At the same time, they can reduce costs, increase profits and even create new sources of income. You¿ll reap dividends on your cover crop investments for years, since their benefits accumulate over the long term. This book will help you find which ones are right for you. Captures farmer and other research results from the past ten years. The authors verified the info. from the 2nd ed., added new results and updated farmer profiles and research data, and added 2 chap. Includes maps and charts, detailed narratives about individual cover crop species, and chap. about aspects of cover cropping.

Download or read book Global Livestock Production Systems written by Timothy P. Robinson and published by Food & Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO). This book was released on 2011 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Informed livestock sector policy development and priority setting is heavily dependent on a good understanding of livestock production systems. In a collaborative effort between the Food and Agriculture Organization and the International Livestock Research Institute, stock has been taken of where we have come from in agricultural systems classification and mapping; the current state of the art; and the directions in which research and data collection efforts need to take in the future. The book also addresses issues relating to the intensity and scale of production, moving from what is done to how it is done. The intensification of production is an area of particular importance, for it is in the intensive systems that changes are occurring most rapidly and where most information is needed on the implications that intensification of production may have for livelihoods, poverty alleviation, animal diseases, public health and environmental outcomes. A series of case studies is provided, linking livestock production systems to rural livelihoods and poverty and examples of the application of livestock production system maps are drawn from livestock production, now and in the future; livestock's impact on the global environment; animal and public health; and livestock and livelihoods. This book provides a formal reference to Version 5 of the global livestock production systems map, and to revised estimates of the numbers of rural poor livestock keepers, by country and livestock production system.

Download or read book Reducing Methane Emissions from Livestock written by Michael J. Gibbs and published by . This book was released on 1989 with total page 122 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: