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Can technology help achieve sustainable intensification? Evidence from milk recording on Irish dairy farms
Balaine, Lorraine Dillon, Emma J. Läpple, Doris Lynch, John
Balaine, Lorraine
Dillon, Emma J.
Läpple, Doris
Lynch, John
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2020-03
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L Balaine, E J Dillon, D Läpple, J Lynch, Can technology help achieve sustainable intensification? Evidence from milk recording on Irish dairy farms, Land Use Policy, Volume 92, 2020, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2019.104437
Abstract
This article explores the potential of a farm technology to simultaneously improve farm efficiency and provide
wider environmental and social benefits. Identifying these ‘win-win-win’ strategies and encouraging their
widespread adoption is critical to achieve sustainable intensification. Using a nationally representative sample of
296 Irish dairy farms from 2015, propensity score matching is applied to measure the impact of milk recording
on a broad set of farm sustainability indicators. The findings reveal that the technology enhances economic
sustainability by increasing dairy gross margin and milk yield per cow. Furthermore, social sustainability is
improved through a reduction in milk bulk tank somatic cell count (an indicator of animal health and welfare
status). Conversely, milk recording (as it is currently implemented) does not impact farm environmental sustainability,
represented by greenhouse gas emission efficiency. While the study shows that milk recording is a
‘win-win’ strategy, ways of improving current levels of utilisation are discussed so that milk recording achieves
its ‘win-win-win’ potential in the future.