Carbon footprint of conventional and organic beef production systems: An Italian case study

Carbon footprint of organic beef meat from farm to fork: a case study of short supply chain

“…A recent Italian study showed CFs of 24.62 and 18.21 kg CO 2 eq. kg −1 LW for organic and conventional beef, respectively . This result would seem to confirm that production efficiency has a stronger effect on total emissions rather than distance travelled by animals during breeding stages…”

“…kg −1 LW for organic and conventional beef, respectively. 28 This result would seem to confirm that production efficiency has a stronger effect on total emissions rather than distance travelled by animals during breeding stages. 29 We did not consider potential organic carbon sequestration by soil that may result from the more conservative practices of the organic system.…”

“…The estimation of carbon sequestration by soil is difficult because of the high variability of soil characteristics and climate conditions, differences in soil management and the absence of certain data. However, when the carbon sink was evaluated in organic and conventional beef production systems, its contribution was limited in both . The study's authors reported that the net carbon sink decreased the CF from 24.62 to 23.32 kg CO 2 eq.…”

“…However, when the carbon sink was evaluated in organic and conventional beef production systems, its contribution was limited in both. 28 The study's authors reported that the net carbon sink decreased the CF from 24.62 to 23.32 kg CO 2 eq. kg −1 LW in the organic system and from 18.21 to 17.71 kg CO 2 eq kg −1 LW in the conventional system.…”

Assessing the environmental impact of ruminant production systems

“…In Italy once again, Buratti et al (2017) compared the CF of conventional and organic beef production systems. Data were collected from two case study farms in the Umbria region of Italy, both of which operated as cow-calf systems rather than specialist fattening operations.…”