Environmental efficiency of alternative dairy systems: A productive efficiency approach

Abstract

Agriculture across the globe needs to produce "more with less." Productivity should be increased in a sustainable manner so that the environment is not further degraded, management practices are both socially acceptable and economically favorable, and future generations are not disadvantaged. The objective of this paper was to compare the environmental efficiency of 2 divergent strains of Holstein-Friesian cows across 2 contrasting dairy management systems (grazing and nongrazing) over multiple years and so expose any genetic × environment (G × E) interaction. The models were an extension of the traditional efficiency analysis to account for undesirable outputs (pollutants), and estimate efficiency measures that allow for the asymmetric treatment of desirable outputs (i.e., milk production) and undesirable outputs. Two types of models were estimated, one considering production inputs (land, nitrogen fertilizers, feed, and cows) and the other not, thus allowing the assessment of the effect of inputs by comparing efficiency values and rankings between models. Each model type had 2 versions, one including 2 types of pollutants (greenhouse gas emissions, nitrogen surplus) and the other 3 (greenhouse gas emissions, nitrogen surplus, and phosphorus surplus). Significant differences were found between efficiency scores among the systems. Results indicated no G × E interaction; however, even though the select genetic merit herd consuming a diet with a higher proportion of concentrated feeds was most efficient in the majority of models, cows of the same genetic merit on higher forage diets could be just as efficient. Efficiency scores for the low forage groups were less variable from year to year, which reflected the uniformity of purchased concentrate feeds. The results also indicate that inputs play an important role in the measurement of environmental efficiency of dairy systems and that animal health variables (incidence of udder health disorders and body condition score) have a significant effect on the environmental efficiency of each dairy system. We conclude that traditional narrow measures of performance may not always distinguish dairy farming systems best fitted to future requirements.

The Relationship of Dairy Farm Eco-Efficiency with Intensification and Self-Sufficiency. Evidence from the French Dairy Sector Using Life Cycle Analysis, Data Envelopment Analysis and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling

“…unit of milk or land), choice of which may lead to radically different conclusions [64]; DEA rather aggregates farm impacts and outputs altogether , providing a single eco-efficiency measure for the whole farm. It is noteworthy, however, that two recent DEA studies found that intensification at cow-level actually resulted in better environmental performance at farm-level, regardless of feed self-sufficiency levels as reflected by two different feeding practices (lower versus higher reliance on imported concentrates) [13,19]. These findings demonstrate the potential for intensive farms to improve environmental performance [9], perhaps by adoption of highly self-sufficient management practices, in line with of agro-ecological concepts.…”

“…Yet eco-efficiency ratios have several drawbacks [10], for example the allocation of environmental impacts to several dairy farm products (milk, meat, crops) is challenging. Dairy studies are therefore increasingly coupling LCA indicators with the multiple-input, multiple-output method Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA [11]) to calculate single aggregated eco-efficiency scores per farm, by accounting for all LCA impacts (or carbon foot-printing indicators), inputs and outputs simultaneously [10,12–19]. …”

“…The global efficiency indicator is based on a ratio between productions of goods and inputs (or environmental impacts). A wealth of dairy studies [5,6,8,10,13,19–22] show that eco-efficiency is generally influenced by two management strategies improving this ratio with an increase in outputs or a decrease in inputs: (i) the level of intensification at animal and farm-levels, i.e. higher production per unit of input so that increases in outputs outweigh potential increases in inputs and environmental impacts; and (ii) the farm’s degree of self-sufficiency, i.e.…”

“…On the one hand, intensive and less self-sufficient systems may increase production in a very resource use-efficient manner. For example, increasing cow productivity and the use of concentrated feeds can increase feed efficiency and milk yield per cow and per ha (10 4 m 2 ) on-farm land, and can decrease manure volume and nutrients [5,19,24]. Nonetheless, high efficiency may not be enough to reach environmental targets [25].…”

Environmental Efficiency and Pollution Costs of Nitrogen Surplus in Dairy Farms: A Parametric Hyperbolic Technology Distance Function Approach

“…March et al (2016) analysed the environmental efficiency of diverse milk production systems making use data from experimental dairy farms. Toma et al (2013) compared the environmental efficiency of two divergent strains of Holstein-Friesian cows across two contrasting dairy management systems. Picazo-Tadeo et al (2011) estimated the eco-efficiency scores at both farm and environmental pressure-specific levels for a sample of Spanish farmers operating in the rain-fed agricultural system of Campos County.…”