Identifying and quantifying key sustainability indicators for pastoral dairy-beef production systems

IF 1.4 Q3 AGRICULTURE, DAIRY & ANIMAL SCIENCE
M. Kearney , E.G. O’Riordan , C.J. Byrne , J. Breen , P. Crosson
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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Objective

The objective of this study was to quantify the sustainability of representative dairy-beef farms in Ireland (AVE) and to compare these with dairy-beef farms participating in a farm improvement program (IMP) and research (RES) systems. The study aimed to determine the differences in technical performance and key sustainability indicators among these farm categories.

Material and Methods

Within each farm category, dairy-beef systems differing in sire breed (early maturing, late maturing, and Holstein-Friesian), animal sex (steer and heifer), finishing age (ranging from 18 to 30 mo of age), and production system (finishing from grazing or indoor-based systems) were modeled using the Grange Dairy-Beef Systems Model.

Results and Discussion

The average finishing age was 25.4, 23.8, and 20.6 mo on AVE, IMP, and RES, respectively. Results highlighted a wide range in net margins (from €185 to €806 per hectare; €1 = $1.05) for the systems modeled. Sex had the largest effect on profitability (steer greater than heifer), followed by finishing system (finishing from grazing systems greater than indoor systems) and breed type (late maturing greatest and Holstein-Friesian least). Greenhouse gas emissions of the 3 farm categories ranged from 10.8 to 16.6 kg of carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2eq) per kilogram of carcass weight produced. All farm categories were, on average, net producers of human-edible protein, and all farms were net consumers of human-edible energy.

Implications and Applications

Key sustainability performance indicators identified in this study include carcass output per hectare, reduced age at slaughter, high individual animal performance, and increasing of the proportion of grazed pasture in the animal’s diet. There is a temporal dimension to ranking farm categories from an economic, environment, labor, feed-food competition, and land-use perspective because none of the 3 farm categories investigated were without fault from a sustainable dairy- beef production perspective.

确定和量化牧区奶牛生产系统的关键可持续性指标
目标本研究旨在量化爱尔兰(AVE)具有代表性的奶牛场的可持续性,并将其与参与农场改良计划(IMP)和研究(RES)系统的奶牛场进行比较。研究旨在确定这些农场类别在技术性能和关键可持续性指标方面的差异。材料与方法在每个农场类别中,使用格兰奇乳牛系统模型对不同母牛品种(早熟、晚熟和荷斯坦-弗里斯兰)、动物性别(公牛和母牛)、育成年龄(18 到 30 月龄)和生产系统(放牧育成或室内育成)的乳牛系统进行建模。结果与讨论AVE、IMP 和 RES 的平均育成年龄分别为 25.4、23.8 和 20.6 月龄。结果表明,建模系统的净利润范围很广(从每公顷 185 欧元到 806 欧元;1 欧元 = 1.05 美元)。性别对盈利能力的影响最大(公牛大于母牛),其次是育成系统(放牧育成系统大于室内育成系统)和品种类型(晚熟牛最大,荷斯坦-弗里斯兰牛最小)。三类农场每生产一公斤胴体重量的温室气体排放量在 10.8 至 16.6 千克二氧化碳当量 (CO2eq) 之间。本研究确定的主要可持续发展绩效指标包括每公顷胴体产量、屠宰日龄降低、动物个体性能高以及动物日粮中牧草比例增加。从经济、环境、劳动力、饲料-食品竞争和土地利用的角度对农场类别进行排序具有时间维度,因为从可持续奶牛-牛肉生产的角度来看,所调查的 3 个农场类别中没有一个是无懈可击的。
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来源期刊
Applied Animal Science
Applied Animal Science AGRICULTURE, DAIRY & ANIMAL SCIENCE-
CiteScore
3.00
自引率
6.70%
发文量
68
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