Greenhouse gas emission of Canadian cow-calf operations: A whole-farm assessment of 295 farms

Alemu, Aklilu W.; Amiro, B.D.; Bittman, S.; Macdonald, Douglas J.; Ominski, Kim

doi:10.1016/j.agsy.2016.11.013

Cited by 28 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 64 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Similar results have been reported in grassland-based beef systems in Uruguay [14,15,57] and Argentina [58]. In our study, the GHG emissions of cow-calf systems were similar to those of 295 cow-calf farms in Canada [26] and the cow-calf systems based on native and improved grasslands in Uruguay [14]. Emissions from backgrounding systems were similar to those from background-finishing systems that had seeded pastures and feedlots in Uruguay [57].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

“…On a farm-area basis, in our study, GHG emissions did not differ significantly among types of systems. The average was much lower than previously reported values, which ranged between 265 and 9782 [26], and between 2334 and 3037 [59] in Canadian beef cattle production systems, between 1490 and 2827 in Uruguayan beef systems [14], and between 7902 and 10,913 in New Zealand pasture-based dairy systems [60]. The higher stocking rates in those studies (0.31, 0.77 and 2.3-3.0 LU/ha in Canadian, Uruguayan and New Zealand systems, respectively, versus 0.13 LU/ha in our study) were mainly responsible for the differences in emissions between those studies and ours.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 78%

“…GHG farm emissions varied widely among the 30 farms surveyed in the semiarid rangelands of central Argentina, which reflected the high diversity in the types of production systems [26,56]. Variability is especially high in studies that have been based on actual farm survey data [14,26].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Improving production efficiency has been recommended as a strategy to mitigate GHG emissions in beef systems [14,15,26,57,[64][65][66]. For instance, Alemu et al [26] found that low-emitting farms had higher animal and land productivities than high-emitting farms in Canadian cow-calf systems. In French suckler-beef production farms, animal productivity was the main factor influencing GHG emissions [64], which suggested that technical efficiency was a factor.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Land-related variables can affect GHG emissions from animals through diet quality [26]. Diet digestibility directly reduces CH 4 emission intensity [64,71], which was apparent on farms that had an increased area of improved pastures, including seeded pastures, oversowing with legumes, and annual winter crops for grazing [14].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Beef Grazing Systems in Semi-Arid Rangelands of Central Argentina

Barrantes

Privitello

et al. 2018

Sustainability

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The livestock sector can be a major contributor to the mitigation of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Within the sector, beef production produces the largest proportion of the livestock sector's direct emissions. The objective of this study was to assess the on-farm GHG emissions in semi-arid rangelands in Argentina and to identify the relationship between emissions and current farm management practices. A survey recorded detailed information on farm management and characteristics. Assessments of GHG emissions were based on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Tier 2 protocols. The relationship between farm management and GHG emissions were identified using general linear models. Cluster analysis was used to identify groups of farms that differed from others in emissions and farm characteristics. Emissions per product sold were low on farms that had improved livestock care management, rotational grazing, received technical advice, and had high animal and land productivities. Emissions per hectare of farmland were low on farms that had low stocking rates, a low number of grazing paddocks, little or no land dedicated to improved pastures and forage crops, and low land productivity. Our results suggest that the implementation of realistic, relatively easy-to-adopt farming management practices has considerable potential for mitigating the GHG emissions in the semi-arid rangelands of central Argentina.

show abstract