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dc.contributor.authorO’Brien, Donal
dc.contributor.authorJudith Louise, Capper
dc.contributor.authorGarnsworthy, Phil
dc.contributor.authorGrainger, Chris
dc.contributor.authorShalloo, Laurence
dc.date.accessioned2020-05-26T13:45:14Z
dc.date.available2020-05-26T13:45:14Z
dc.date.issued2014-01-17
dc.identifier.citationO’Brien, D., Capper, J., Garnsworthy, P., Grainger, C. and Shalloo, L. (2014). A case study of the carbon footprint of milk from high-performing confinement and grass-based dairy farms. Journal of Dairy Science, 97(3), 1835-1851. doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.3168/jds.2013-7174en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11019/1897
dc.descriptionpeer-revieweden_US
dc.description.abstractLife-cycle assessment (LCA) is the preferred methodology to assess carbon footprint per unit of milk. The objective of this case study was to apply an LCA method to compare carbon footprints of high-performance confinement and grass-based dairy farms. Physical performance data from research herds were used to quantify carbon footprints of a high-performance Irish grass-based dairy system and a top-performing United Kingdom (UK) confinement dairy system. For the US confinement dairy system, data from the top 5% of herds of a national database were used. Life-cycle assessment was applied using the same dairy farm greenhouse gas (GHG) model for all dairy systems. The model estimated all on- and off-farm GHG sources associated with dairy production until milk is sold from the farm in kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2-eq) and allocated emissions between milk and meat. The carbon footprint of milk was calculated by expressing GHG emissions attributed to milk per tonne of energy-corrected milk (ECM). The comparison showed that when GHG emissions were only attributed to milk, the carbon footprint of milk from the Irish grass-based system (837 kg of CO2-eq/t of ECM) was 5% lower than the UK confinement system (884 kg of CO2-eq/t of ECM) and 7% lower than the US confinement system (898 kg of CO2-eq/t of ECM). However, without grassland carbon sequestration, the grass-based and confinement dairy systems had similar carbon footprints per tonne of ECM. Emission algorithms and allocation of GHG emissions between milk and meat also affected the relative difference and order of dairy system carbon footprints. For instance, depending on the method chosen to allocate emissions between milk and meat, the relative difference between the carbon footprints of grass-based and confinement dairy systems varied by 3 to 22%. This indicates that further harmonization of several aspects of the LCA methodology is required to compare carbon footprints of contrasting dairy systems. In comparison to recent reports that assess the carbon footprint of milk from average Irish, UK, and US dairy systems, this case study indicates that top-performing herds of the respective nations have carbon footprints 27 to 32% lower than average dairy systems. Although differences between studies are partly explained by methodological inconsistency, the comparison suggests that potential exists to reduce the carbon footprint of milk in each of the nations by implementing practices that improve productivity.en_US
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherElsevieren_US
dc.relation.ispartofseriesJournal of Dairy Science;Vol. 97 (3)
dc.rightsAttribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States*
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/*
dc.subjectcarbon footprinten_US
dc.subjectgrassen_US
dc.subjectconfinementen_US
dc.subjectmilk productionen_US
dc.titleA case study of the carbon footprint of milk from high-performing confinement and grass-based dairy farmsen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US
dc.embargo.terms2015-01-17en_US
dc.identifier.doihttps://dx.doi.org/10.3168/jds.2013-7174
dc.contributor.sponsorEuropean Unionen_US
dc.contributor.sponsorGrantNumberFP7-244983en_US
refterms.dateFOA2015-01-17T00:00:00Z


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  • Livestock Systems [315]
    Teagasc LIvestock Systems Department includes Dairy, Cattle and Sheep research.

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Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States
Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States