Assessment of grazing management on farm greenhouse gas intensity of beef production systems in the Canadian Prairies using life cycle assessment

Alemu, Aklilu W.; Janzen, H. H.; Little, Shannan M.; Hao, Xiying; Thompson, Donald; Baron, V. S.; Iwaasa, A. D.; Beauchemin, K. A.; Kröbel, Roland

doi:10.1016/j.agsy.2017.08.003

Cited by 41 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 83 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In the case of the Iberian pigs, the carbon sequestration exceeds the emissions both in farms dealing with the full cycle and fattening montanera farms. These results differ from other papers such as that of Alemu et al [66] which included soil C-sequestration but only saw a reduction of the greenhouse gases emission balance in the farm by 12%-25%, with stocking rates ranging 1.2 to 2.5 cow-calf pair/ha.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

“…However, the majority of these papers focus on the study of intensive farms such as meat sheep and beef cattle farms [61]; dairy farms [62,63], and intensive pig farms [64]. Other papers have approached the grazing cattle [65][66][67] and grazing goats [68][69][70] production systems. However, very few papers deal with organic livestock farming [9,71,72] that also includes different species and management systems.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Organic Farming as a Strategy to Reduce Carbon Footprint in Dehesa Agroecosystems: A Case Study Comparing Different Livestock Products

Horrillo

Gaspar

Escribano

2020

Animals

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study employs life cycle assessment (LCA) for the calculation of the balance (emissions minus sequestration) of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in the organic livestock production systems of dehesas in the southwest region of Spain. European organic production standards regulate these systems. As well as calculating the system’s emissions, this method also takes into account the soil carbon sequestration values. In this sense, the study of carbon sequestration in organic systems is of great interest from a legislation viewpoint. The results reveal that the farms producing meat cattle with calves sold at weaning age provide the highest levels of carbon footprint (16.27 kg of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2eq)/kg of live weight), whereas the farms with the lowest levels of carbon emissions are montanera pig and semi-extensive dairy goat farms, i.e., 4.16 and 2.94 kg CO2eq/kg of live weight and 1.19 CO2eq/kg of fat and protein corrected milk (FPCM), respectively. Enteric fermentation represents 42.8% and 79.9% of the total emissions of ruminants’ farms. However, in pig farms, the highest percentage of the emissions derives from manure management (36.5%–42.9%) and animal feed (31%–37.7%). The soil sequestration level has been seen to range between 419.7 and 576.4 kg CO2eq/ha/year, which represents a considerable compensation of carbon emissions. It should be noted that these systems cannot be compared with other more intensive systems in terms of product units and therefore, the carbon footprint values of dehesa organic systems must always be associated to the territory.

show abstract

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Organic Farming as a Strategy to Reduce Carbon Footprint in Dehesa Agroecosystems: A Case Study Comparing Different Livestock Products

Horrillo

Gaspar

Escribano

2020

Animals

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…A life cycle assessment was conducted over an 8-yr period on a hypothetical but typical beef farm in western Canada using a whole-farm model to estimate intensity of GHG emissions for four grazing management scenarios differing in stocking method and intensity (Alemu et al, 2017). A life cycle assessment was conducted over an 8-yr period on a hypothetical but typical beef farm in western Canada using a whole-farm model to estimate intensity of GHG emissions for four grazing management scenarios differing in stocking method and intensity (Alemu et al, 2017).…”

Section: Comprehensive Assessmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Comprehensive assessments of GHG emissions are relatively rare. A life cycle assessment was conducted over an 8-yr period on a hypothetical but typical beef farm in western Canada using a whole-farm model to estimate intensity of GHG emissions for four grazing management scenarios differing in stocking method and intensity (Alemu et al, 2017). Regardless of grazing management, CH 4 from enteric fermentation was the major source of emissions followed by N 2 O from manure.…”

Section: Comprehensive Assessmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Grassland Management Affects Delivery of Regulating and Supporting Ecosystem Services

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Ecosystem services (ES) are the direct and indirect contributions of ecosystems to human well‐being. Grassland ecosystems cover >40% of Earth's ice‐free terrestrial surface, and grassland management affects the ES provided. Our objective was to synthesize the existing literature assessing management effects on regulating and supporting ES provided by grasslands, explore the related mechanisms, and determine which practices favor ES delivery. Current literature supports the following conclusions. Increasing management intensity of grasslands through planting more productive species or increasing fertilizer inputs generally increases soil organic C (SOC) accumulation. Increasing the number of plant species or functional groups, especially when legumes are added, often increases SOC accumulation. Grazed grasslands generally accumulate SOC more rapidly than undefoliated grasslands. Low or moderate stocking rates favor SOC accumulation relative to high stocking rates, especially in lower‐rainfall environments. Short‐term SOC accumulation rates observed after conversion of cropland to perennial grassland do not continue indefinitely. More digestible forages defoliated at optimal maturity may decrease CH4 emitted per unit of feed consumed or per unit of animal product. Substituting legumes for N fertilizer and reducing livestock N excretion through diet manipulation reduce N2O emissions. Managing grazing to increase uniformity of excreta deposition increases efficiency of nutrient cycling. Species‐rich grasslands with flower‐rich legumes and forbs increase foraging opportunities for pollinators. Finally, to optimize delivery of grassland ES, management practices that sustain ecosystem function likely need to replace those that maximize short‐term resource utilization or economic return. To encourage adoption, such practices may need to be incentivized.

show abstract

“…The results of the studies conducted by Alemu et al [14] indicated that grazing management practices impacted greenhouse gas (GHG) intensity of beef production by afecting diet quality, animal performance and soil C change. It also emphasizes the importance of accounting for all emission sources and sinks within a beef production system when estimating its environmental impacts.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sustainable Pasture Management

Sevov¹,

Yancheva²,

Kazakova³

2018

New Perspectives in Forage Crops

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Grasslands which are a major part of the global ecosystem, covering 37% of the earth's terrestrial area, have a signiicant contribution to food security through providing most of the energy and proteins required by the ruminants used for meat and dairy production. Grasslands are considered to have the potential to play a fundamental role in climate change mitigation, particularly regarding carbon storage and sequestration and for biodiversity preservation. This chapter provides an overview of the causes of the pasture degradation and some essential elements for sustainable management, which aims to improve the quantity and quality of pasture, mitigation of climate change and biodiversity preservation. Another point of this chapter is the grasslands with high nature value that nowadays is a top priority in the European legislation as the European Commission has conirmed that HNV farming will remain a key priority in 2014-2020. We present the situation in Bulgaria because it is one of the irst member state countries that have assessed HNV regions and put funding in place to support them.

show abstract

Assessment of grazing management on farm greenhouse gas intensity of beef production systems in the Canadian Prairies using life cycle assessment

Cited by 41 publications

References 83 publications

Organic Farming as a Strategy to Reduce Carbon Footprint in Dehesa Agroecosystems: A Case Study Comparing Different Livestock Products

Organic Farming as a Strategy to Reduce Carbon Footprint in Dehesa Agroecosystems: A Case Study Comparing Different Livestock Products

Grassland Management Affects Delivery of Regulating and Supporting Ecosystem Services

Sustainable Pasture Management

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About