Eco-efficiency of farms considering multiple functions of agriculture: Concept and results from Austrian farms

Grassauer, Florian; Herndl, Markus; Nemecek, Thomas; Guggenberger, T.; Fritz, Christian; Steinwidder, Andreas; Zollitsch, Werner

doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.126662

Cited by 40 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 65 publications

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“…In Figure 3, we compared the mean value of the absolute EIs of the Lungau farms with the MDF broken down into ten different sources and found the values of the Lungau farms to be lower for each of the considered EIs. To set the EIs of the MDF into perspective, we compared them to 12 Austrian organic dairy farms from the study of Grassauer et al (2021), who assessed the EIs of organic dairy farms distributed to all of Austria under similar system boundaries (Table 2). The comparison revealed that the MDF is below the mean but within the range of the EIs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to dairy farms being multifunctional systems that, besides producing food, also generate income for farmers and provide environmental services (O'Brien et al, 2012;Grassauer et al, 2021), we consider two functional units in this study: (1) 1 kg of energy-corrected milk (ECM) and (2) 1 ha of agricultural land allocated to milk production (ha MP).…”

Section: Model Dairy Farmmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to Nemecek et al (2011), there are three dimensions of EIs which represent different management options: (i) resource management, (ii) nutrient management, and (iii) pollutant management. Based on these dimensions and following the rationale of Grassauer et al (2021), we selected the following EIs to be considered within this study: (i) cumulative exergy demand (CExD) (Bösch et al, 2007;Alvarenga et al, 2013), (ii) global warming potential 100 years (GWP) (IPCC, 2013), (iii) normalized eutrophication potential (EP) (Hauschild and Potting, 2005), and (iv) aquatic ecotoxicity potential (AE) (Guinée et al, 2001;Kägi et al, 2008;Hayer et al, 2010).…”

Section: Life Cycle Impact Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Environmental Assessment of Austrian Organic Dairy Farms With Closed Regional Production Cycles in a Less Favorable Production Area

Grassauer

Herndl

Iten

et al. 2022

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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Extensive dairy production in less favorable production areas has a long tradition in Austria. Nevertheless, dairy production also contributes considerable environmental impacts (EIs), e.g., greenhouse gas emissions, nutrient losses, and land use. Therefore, 20 organic dairy farms located in the Lungau region in Austria were assessed concerning their EIs via life cycle assessment (LCA). Cumulative exergy demand (CExD), normalized eutrophication potential (EP), aquatic ecotoxicity potential (AE), and global warming potential (GWP) were considered as impact categories to describe the farms' EIs. The farms were part of a pilot project aiming to produce high-quality dairy products and keep production cycles closed within the project region. Consequently, the purchase of key off-farm resources was only possible within the project region. We adapted existing life cycle inventories to account for those regional resource purchases. Subsequently, the EIs of the 20 farms were related to the functional units (FUs) of 1 kg energy-corrected milk (ECM) and 1 ha agricultural area for milk production and compared to a representative model dairy farm (MDF) that was created based on statistical data and average production values of organic Austrian dairy farms. Compared to the MDF, results show an ~58% lower EP per ha and 44% per kg ECM of the Lungau farms. Further, the CExD per ha was about 24% lower due to a lower use of resources caused by the lower production intensity of the Lungau farms. Regarding GWP, Lungau farms are favorable considering 1 ha as the FU, whereas the MDF seems advantageous if 1 kg ECM is used as the FU. However, caused by a high variation of purchased roughage and the lower production intensity, the Lungau farms cause higher AE, regardless of the FU. Overall, we identified three principal production parameters determining the environmental performance of milk production in a closed production cycle in a less favorable area, namely, (1) the stocking rate, (2) the fed concentrate, and (3) the purchased roughage. Using those inputs at moderate intensity, the extensively managed Lungau farms can competitively contribute to producing food, thus highlighting the importance of site-adapted agriculture.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Model Dairy Farmmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Life Cycle Impact Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Environmental Assessment of Austrian Organic Dairy Farms With Closed Regional Production Cycles in a Less Favorable Production Area

Grassauer

Herndl

Iten

et al. 2022

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This approach was also most often used in agriculture. Energy efficiency indicators are used to evaluate various agricultural systems as well as production methods (ecological, conventional) [47][48][49][50][51]. According to Risoud [52] and the methodology developed in her work, the energy efficiency of a farm is defined as the following ratio: gross energy of useful products/non-renewable energies used to produce them.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Economic and Energy Efficiency of Farms in Poland

et al. 2021

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Climate change and negative environmental effects are results of a simplified understanding of management processes, i.e., assuming economic effects as the basis for development, without taking into account external costs. Economically efficient facilities are not always environmentally efficient. Due to the existing conflict of economic and environmental goals, it seems necessary to look for measures that would include both economic and environmental elements in their structure. The above doubts were the main reasons for undertaking this research. One of the important sectors of the economy accepted for research, where energy is an essential factor of production, is agriculture. Agricultural production is very diversified both in terms of inputs and final products. Depending on the production direction, the processes of conversion of energy accumulated in inputs into energy accumulated in commodity products have different natures and relationships. Taking into account the importance of agriculture in the national economy and the current environmental needs of the world, the types of farms generating energy surplus and those in which the surplus is the least cost-consuming were indicated. The research used the economic and energy efficiency index, which makes it possible to jointly assess technical and economic efficiency. Assuming the need to produce food with low energy consumption and a positive energy balance, it is reasonable to develop a support system for those farms showing the highest economic and energy efficiency indicators.

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“…The existing studies are mainly focused on the basic theory of eco-efficiency [ 6 , 7 , 8 ] and practical applications in different fields. The application fields cover agriculture [ 9 , 10 ], industry [ 11 , 12 ], manufacturing industry, etc. [ 13 , 14 ], and the application areas cover cities [ 15 , 16 ], regions [ 17 , 18 ], and countries [ 19 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial-Temporal Pattern and Evolution Trend of the Cultivated Land Use Eco-Efficiency in the National Pilot Zone for Ecological Conservation in China

Fan

Deng

Fan

et al. 2021

IJERPH

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The cultivated land use eco-efficiency (CLUE) is an important indicator to evaluate ecological civilization construction in China. Research on the spatial-temporal pattern and evolution trend of the CLUE can help to assess the level of ecological civilization construction and reveal associated demonstration and driving effects on surrounding areas. Based on the perspective of the CLUE, this paper obtains cultivated land use data pertaining to National Pilot Zones for Ecological Conservation in China and neighboring provinces from 2008 to 2018. In this study, the SBM-undesirable, Moran’s I, and Markov chain models are adopted to quantitatively measure and analyze the CLUE and its temporal and spatial patterns and evolution trend. The research results indicate that the CLUE in the whole study area exhibited the characteristics of one growth, two stable, and two decline stages, with a positive spatial autocorrelation that increased year by year, and a spatial spillover effect was observed. Geographical spatial patterns and spatial spillover effects played a major role in the evolution of the CLUE, and there occurred a higher probability of improvement in the vicinity of cities with high CLUE values. In the future, practical construction experience should be disseminated at the provincial level, and policies and measures should be formulated according to local conditions. In addition, a linkage model between prefecture-level cities should be developed at the municipal level to fully manifest the positive spatial spillover effect. Moreover, we should thoroughly evaluate the risk associated with CLUE transition from high to low levels and establish a low-level early warning mechanism.

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Eco-efficiency of farms considering multiple functions of agriculture: Concept and results from Austrian farms

Cited by 40 publications

References 65 publications

Environmental Assessment of Austrian Organic Dairy Farms With Closed Regional Production Cycles in a Less Favorable Production Area

Environmental Assessment of Austrian Organic Dairy Farms With Closed Regional Production Cycles in a Less Favorable Production Area

Economic and Energy Efficiency of Farms in Poland

Spatial-Temporal Pattern and Evolution Trend of the Cultivated Land Use Eco-Efficiency in the National Pilot Zone for Ecological Conservation in China

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