Assessing the sustainability of Irish agriculture

Dillon, Emma; Hennessy, Thia; Hynes, Stephen

doi:10.3763/ijas.2009.0044

Cited by 54 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…According with these objectives, social issues (like animal welfare, food quality, landscape quality or consumers perception) were not included in this study for data-constraint because considering these aspects in the analysis, it might point out a trade-off situation between the different dimension of sustainability [19,29].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Milk Supply Chain in Italy’s Umbria Region: Environmental and Economic Sustainability

et al. 2016

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Abstract:This article aims to investigate the environmental and economic sustainability of five dairy farms in the Umbria Region (Italy). The study also provides an assessment of aggregate sustainability, which is less investigated with reference to cattle milk both globally and in Italy, through the analysis of the relationship between economic and environmental performance. Primary data were collected through a direct survey carried out in 2014. The environmental assessment was conducted with a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) "cradle to farm gate" approach, while the economic dimension was evaluated by determining the direct and indirect costs related to the factors involved in the production process. A correlation analysis and a linear regression were performed in order to study the relationship between the carbon footprint (CF) and operating income. The average operating income amounted to 0.03 Euro/L of milk. The CF values of the five companies are contained within a variation range comprised between 0.90 and 1.76 kg CO 2 eq/L of milk. The existence of an inverse relationship between the CF of milk and operating income confirms the hypothesis regarding the possibility of implementing strategies aimed at improving performance in both investigated dimensions at the same time, thus increasing the aggregate sustainability.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In order to improve these aspect in terms of sustainability, according to [16] and [29], among others, two key factors have to be considered in conventional livestock breeding: management of feeding practices and annual milk production per hectare and per cow.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Milk Supply Chain in Italy’s Umbria Region: Environmental and Economic Sustainability

et al. 2016

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“…The breadth and depth of data collected at the farm level (particularly relating to the environment) in Ireland have expanded considerably in recent years, allowing for the development of a broad suite of indicators. The objective of this article is to describe the development of a proof of concept in relation to a number of economic, social and environmental sustainability indicators, building on work initiated by Dillon et al (2007Dillon et al ( , 2010, by broadening and deepening the range of indicators developed. We describe the sustainability criteria to be measured and the variables used to develop the relevant indicators.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Developing farm-level sustainability indicators for Ireland using the Teagasc National Farm Survey

Ryan¹,

Hennessy²,

Buckley³

et al. 2016

Irish Journal of Agricultural and Food Research

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In the context of an expanding, export-dependent agri-food sector, indicators of sustainable development and intensification are necessary to measure, assess and verify the comparative advantage afforded by Ireland's natural pastoral-based food production systems. Such indicators are also necessary to ensure that we produce more food with less adverse impacts on the Irish environment, climate and society. This article outlines the development of farm-level indicators that reflect the multifaceted nature of sustainability, which is encompassed in economic, environmental and social indicators. The role of innovation in farm sustainability was also examined. A comparison of indicators across Irish farm systems showed that dairy farms, followed by tillage farms, tended to be the most economically and socially sustainable farm systems. In relation to greenhouse gas emissions in particular, the top-performing dairy farms, in an economic sense, also tended to be the best-performing farms from an environmental sustainability perspective. This trend was also evident in relation to the adoption of innovative practices on farm, which was found to be strongly correlated with economic performance.

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“…Given the increasing need for data on the sustainability performance of farms (Eurostat, 2011;ECA, 2016), FADN is a potential starting point to collect this kind of information. Several countries already have an extended data collection in their national FADN systems to cover sustainability issues (see, for example, Boone and Dolman, 2010;Dillon et al, 2010;Dolman et al, 2012;Platteau et al, 2014). Types of information that are already collected at national level range from information themes such as irrigation practices, where more than two thirds of the countries already collect some information, to engagement in local community, quality of life and working conditions where only one or even no countries collect this information (Table 1).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Collecting sustainability data in different organisational settings of the European Farm Accountancy Data Network

Vrolijk¹,

Poppe²,

Keszthelyi³

2016

Stud. Agr. Econ.

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Assessing the sustainability of Irish agriculture

Cited by 54 publications

References 18 publications

The Milk Supply Chain in Italy’s Umbria Region: Environmental and Economic Sustainability

The Milk Supply Chain in Italy’s Umbria Region: Environmental and Economic Sustainability

Developing farm-level sustainability indicators for Ireland using the Teagasc National Farm Survey

Collecting sustainability data in different organisational settings of the European Farm Accountancy Data Network

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