Areas and Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Feed Crops Not Used in Canadian Livestock Production in 2001

Abstract

Estimates of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from Canada's four main livestock industries were integrated with the Canadian Economic and Emissions Model for Agriculture (CEEMA) which operates at the census district level. The livestock crop complex (LCC), which defines the crop area required to feed Canada's livestock, was disaggregated from provincial to district level. The LCC areas were subtracted from the crop areas stored in the CEEMA database to define the maximum area available for non-meat food, fiber, and biofuel feedstock production. The resulting non-livestock residual (NLR) area estimates were 18.7 Mha in the west (excluding rangeland, summerfallow, irrigated cropland and any crops not associated with livestock diets) and 1.0 Mha in the east. The GHG emissions from the NLR in the west were 13.7 Tg CO2e, or 30% of the total GHG emissions from those crops associated with livestock diets. The 1.6 Tg CO2e of GHG from the NLR in Eastern Canada represented 8% of the total GHG emissions from those livestock-related crops. The eastern NLR crop areas were more sensitive to changes in livestock populations than the Western Canada NLR areas because of the more dominant role of livestock production in eastern Canadian agriculture than in the west. The total agricultural GHG emissions budget showed direct but muted sensitivity to changes in Canadian livestock populations in both eastern and Western Canada. The methodology will link agricultural GHG emissions with district level land use decisions.