TY - JOUR
T1 - Environmental Impacts of Different Dairy Farming Systems in the Po Valley
AU - Battini, Ferdinando
AU - Agostini, A.
AU - Tabaglio, Vincenzo
AU - Amaducci, Stefano
PY - 2016
Y1 - 2016
N2 - An environmental Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was performed to compare four typical milk production
systems of the Po Valley: drinking milk (A); Parmigiano-Reggiano more intensive (B); Parmigiano-
Reggiano less intensive (C) and Grana Padano (D). The input and output data were collected directly
from the farmers by way of questionnaires.
The results indicated that the total GHG emissions from the analysed farms, with biological allocation,
were: 1.47, 1.35, 1.49 and 1.50 kg CO2 eq. kg 1 FPCM (Fat Protein Corrected Milk) for farm A, B, C and D
respectively. Excluding Land Use Change (LUC) emissions and Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) sequestration,
total GHG emissions were reduced to 1.02, 1.11, 1.26 and 1.20 kg CO2 eq. kg 1 FPCM for farm A, B, C and D
respectively. These reductions were mostly due to the GHG emissions associated to the LUC from imported
soybean meal, while the contribution of SOC sequestration to the total GHG emissions was found
to be negligible.
When LUC emissions from imported soybean meal were not included in the analysis, lower GHG
emissions were associated to higher milk yield, feed self-sufficiency and feed efficiency. However, when
LUC emissions were included in the analysis, the highest level of these parameters did not always lead to
a reduction of the total GHG emissions because the higher use of maize silage was associated with an
increase in the use of imported soymeal.
The results of this LCA also indicated that marine eutrophication, freshwater eutrophication, nonrenewable
energy use, land occupation and total biodiversity loss decreased as the level of intensification
of the production system increased. Conversely, local biodiversity loss, instead, increased if the milk
yield per cow increased. We can conclude that, in the specific context analysed, the increase in productivity
may lead to a trade-off between global impacts (such as GHG emissions) and local impacts (e.g.
local biodiversity and eutrophication).
AB - An environmental Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was performed to compare four typical milk production
systems of the Po Valley: drinking milk (A); Parmigiano-Reggiano more intensive (B); Parmigiano-
Reggiano less intensive (C) and Grana Padano (D). The input and output data were collected directly
from the farmers by way of questionnaires.
The results indicated that the total GHG emissions from the analysed farms, with biological allocation,
were: 1.47, 1.35, 1.49 and 1.50 kg CO2 eq. kg 1 FPCM (Fat Protein Corrected Milk) for farm A, B, C and D
respectively. Excluding Land Use Change (LUC) emissions and Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) sequestration,
total GHG emissions were reduced to 1.02, 1.11, 1.26 and 1.20 kg CO2 eq. kg 1 FPCM for farm A, B, C and D
respectively. These reductions were mostly due to the GHG emissions associated to the LUC from imported
soybean meal, while the contribution of SOC sequestration to the total GHG emissions was found
to be negligible.
When LUC emissions from imported soybean meal were not included in the analysis, lower GHG
emissions were associated to higher milk yield, feed self-sufficiency and feed efficiency. However, when
LUC emissions were included in the analysis, the highest level of these parameters did not always lead to
a reduction of the total GHG emissions because the higher use of maize silage was associated with an
increase in the use of imported soymeal.
The results of this LCA also indicated that marine eutrophication, freshwater eutrophication, nonrenewable
energy use, land occupation and total biodiversity loss decreased as the level of intensification
of the production system increased. Conversely, local biodiversity loss, instead, increased if the milk
yield per cow increased. We can conclude that, in the specific context analysed, the increase in productivity
may lead to a trade-off between global impacts (such as GHG emissions) and local impacts (e.g.
local biodiversity and eutrophication).
KW - Dairy farm
KW - Environmental impacts
KW - Greenhouse gas
KW - Land use change
KW - Life cycle assessment
KW - Dairy farm
KW - Environmental impacts
KW - Greenhouse gas
KW - Land use change
KW - Life cycle assessment
UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10807/72044
U2 - 10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.09.062
DO - 10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.09.062
M3 - Article
SN - 0959-6526
VL - 112
SP - 91
EP - 102
JO - Journal of Cleaner Production
JF - Journal of Cleaner Production
ER -