Trade-offs between profit, production, and environmental footprint on pasture-based dairy farms in the Waikato region of New Zealand

Doole, Graeme J.; Romera, Álvaro J.

doi:10.1016/j.agsy.2015.09.005

Cited by 19 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…The positive relationship between nitrate leaching and GHG emissions observed in Waikato and Canterbury agrees with previous works [22,27,31] and confirms the potential positive by-product of nitrate leaching regulation on GHG emissions. Two drivers of the lower environmental footprint of the Waikato and Canterbury Improved systems were lower N fertiliser use and lower stocking rate, which agree with the findings of several studies that these are key factors in pasture-based dairy systems determining the balance between production, profit, and environmental footprint [25][26][27][28][32][33][34].…”

Section: Insights Across Regionssupporting

confidence: 91%

“…The substantial reduction in profit compared to the relatively small reduction in production can be explained by standing cows off pasture in the Waikato Improved system. Although this mitigation has been confirmed as highly effective for nitrate leaching [1,21,22], the trade-offs are the increase in methane emissions from manure collected in effluent ponds [11,23], and the large costs of the capital investment, depreciation, and maintenance of these facilities [24,25]. The cost of the standing cows off pasture is reflected in other working expenses and overheads and resulted in a 10 cents/kg MS higher cost of milk production (Table 4).…”

Section: Waikatomentioning

confidence: 99%

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Benefits and Trade-Offs of Dairy System Changes Aimed at Reducing Nitrate Leaching

Beukes

Romera

Hutchinson

et al. 2019

Animals

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Between 2011 and 2016, small-scale farm trials were run across three dairy regions of New Zealand (Waikato, Canterbury, Otago) to compare the performance of typical regional farm systems with farm systems implementing a combination of mitigation options most suitable to the region. The trials ran for at least three consecutive years with detailed recording of milk production and input costs. Nitrate leaching per hectare of the milking platform (where lactating cows are kept) was estimated using either measurements (suction cups), models, or soil mineral nitrogen measurements. Post-trial, detailed farm information was used in the New Zealand greenhouse gas inventory methodology to calculate the emissions from all sources; dairy platform, dairy support land used for wintering non-lactating cows (where applicable) and replacement stock, and imported supplements. Nitrate leaching was also estimated for the support land and growing of supplements imported from off-farm using the same methods as for the platform. Operating profit (NZ$/ha/year), nitrate leaching (kg N/ha/year), and greenhouse gas emissions (t CO2-equivalent/ha/year) were all expressed per hectare of milking platform to enable comparisons across regions. Nitrate leaching mitigations adopted in lower-input (less purchased feed and nitrogen fertiliser) farm systems reduced leaching by 22 to 30 per cent, and greenhouse gas emissions by between nine and 24 per cent. The exception was the wintering barn system in Otago, where nitrate leaching was reduced by 45 per cent, but greenhouse gas emissions were unchanged due to greater manure storage and handling. Important drivers of a lower environmental footprint are reducing nitrogen fertiliser and purchased feed. Their effect is to reduce feed flow through the herd and drive down both greenhouse gas emissions and nitrate leaching. Emission reductions in the lower-input systems of Waikato and Canterbury came at an average loss of profit of approximately NZ$100/t CO2-equivalent (three to five per cent of industry-average profit per hectare).

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Section: Insights Across Regionssupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Waikatomentioning

confidence: 99%

Benefits and Trade-Offs of Dairy System Changes Aimed at Reducing Nitrate Leaching

Beukes

Romera

Hutchinson

et al. 2019

Animals

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“…Only four farms decreased their vulnerability for all four variables. Previous studies showed similar results and the inability to simultaneously maximise farm productivity and economic performances in organic dairy (Bouttes et al 2018b), conventional dairy (Doole and Romera 2015) and sheep farms (Ripoll-Bosch et al 2012). Farmers' objectives for obtaining a given trade-off depend on their motivations for converting to organic farming (Cranfield et al 2010): some do so to improve their adaptive capacity (Bouttes et al 2018a), while others are motivated mostly by health and safety concerns (Cranfield et al 2010).…”

Section: Overview Of Farm Vulnerability Patterns: Diversity and Tradementioning

confidence: 83%

Conversion to organic farming decreases the vulnerability of dairy farms

Bize

Maréchal²,

Michel

et al. 2019

Agron. Sustain. Dev.

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In the context of the European crisis in conventional milk production, conventional farms potentially dissimilar to organic farming models are converting to organic. This raises the issue of farm vulnerability during and after this conversion, i.e. the farm's ability to respond to the effects of technical, climatic and economic risks. Our objective was to show whether and how dairy farm vulnerability can decrease during and after conversion to organic farming. We surveyed a sample of 12 dairy farms in Brittany, France, from 2008 (their last year conventional) to 2013. Our method considered farm vulnerability a function of the initial level of and trend in farm self-sufficient milk productivity, economic efficiency, net profitability per worker and independence from European common agricultural policy (CAP) subsidies. We related these vulnerability variables to explanatory variables that illustrated farm exposure to climatic and economic variability and farming practices. The results show that nearly all farms improved their economic efficiency (11/12), about two thirds improved their self-sufficient milk productivity (8/12) and profitability per worker (7/12), and half improved their independence from CAP subsidies (6/12). Farms had diverse vulnerability patterns, with trade-offs between the initial situation and the trend followed during the conversion, and among vulnerability variables. We identified two main adaptation strategies: (i) pasture-based farms that were similar to organic farming models when conventional and that did not change much during the conversion, and (ii) farms based on maize and feed concentrates when conventional that drastically changed. The latter farms had the greatest decrease in vulnerability and improved their self-sufficient milk productivity, profitability per worker, economic efficiency and independence from CAP subsidies. Overall, variability in climatic and economic conditions had less influence on vulnerability than farming practices. Here, we showed for the first time that changing farming practices by converting to organic farming can be a powerful mechanism for reducing farm vulnerability.

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“…Typically, the marginal cost of nitrogen emissions abatement is low for low levels of abatement but increases at an increasing rate as the required level of abatement increases (e.g. Helin 2014;Johnson et al 1991;Doole and Romero 2015). As a result, ambitious targets for abatement can be extremely costly.…”

Section: Farm-level Economic Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Economic perspectives on nitrogen in farming systems: managing trade-offs between production, risk and the environment

Pannell¹

2017

Soil Res.

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Economic insights are crucial for making sound decisions about farm-level management of nitrogen and also about regional or national policy such as for water pollution. In the present review, key insights are presented from a large and diverse literature on the economics of nitrogen in agriculture and the economics of the consequences of nitrogen fertilisation. Issues covered include (1) the economics of nitrogen as an input to production, (2) nitrogen and economic risk at the farm level, (3) the economics of nitrogen fixation by legumes, (4) the existence of flat payoff functions, which often allow wide flexibility in decisions about nitrogen fertiliser rates, (5) explanations for over-application of nitrogen fertilisers by some farmers, and (6) the economics of nitrogen pollution at both the farm level and the policy level. Economics helps to explain farmer behaviour and to design strategies and policies that are more beneficial and more likely to be adopted and successfully implemented.

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Trade-offs between profit, production, and environmental footprint on pasture-based dairy farms in the Waikato region of New Zealand

Cited by 19 publications

References 52 publications

Benefits and Trade-Offs of Dairy System Changes Aimed at Reducing Nitrate Leaching

Benefits and Trade-Offs of Dairy System Changes Aimed at Reducing Nitrate Leaching

Conversion to organic farming decreases the vulnerability of dairy farms

Economic perspectives on nitrogen in farming systems: managing trade-offs between production, risk and the environment

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