Production Profile of Farms and Methane and Nitrous Oxide Emissions

Abstract

The negative impact of agricultural production on the environment is manifested, above all, in the emission of greenhouse gases (GHG). The goals of this study were to estimate methane and nitrous oxide emissions at the level of individual farms and indicate differences in emissions depending on the type of production, and to investigate dependencies between greenhouse gas emissions and economic indicators. Methane and nitrous oxide emissions were estimated at three types of farms in Poland, based on FADN data: field crops, milk, and mixed. Data were from 2004–2018. Statistical analysis confirmed the relationship between greenhouse gas emissions and economic performance. On milk farms, the value of methane and nitrous oxide emissions increased with increased net value added and farm income. Milk farms reached the highest land productivity and the highest level of income per 1 ha of farmland. On field crops farms, the relationship between net value added and farm income and methane and nitrous oxide emissions was negative. Animals remain a strong determinant of methane and nitrous oxide emissions, and the emissions at milk farms were the highest. On mixed farms, emissions result from intensive livestock and crop production. In farms of the field crops type, emissions were the lowest and mainly concerned crops.

Variability of Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Relation to Economic and Ecological Indicators from Cattle Farms

“…This data are not available in other databases. Although they mainly describe the economic situation of farms, they can also be used for environmental analyses [37,39,40].…”

“…Methane and nitrous oxide emissions were estimated following the methodology proposed by Wiśniewski [28]. This method involves making estimates based on data from public statistics data and was used by other authors [37,48,49]. This solution is also consistent with the methodology and standard indicators proposed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [50] and takes into account the emission factors developed by the National Centre for Emissions Management (KOBiZE).…”

“…The aim of this research is to investigate the relationships between greenhouse gas emissions and selected economic and ecological indicators by simplifying the model at the farm level. Our previous work [23,37] demonstrated the need to reduce indicators to better explore these relationships while maintaining the substantive value and the possibility of drawing conclusions.…”

Relationships between economic and ecological indicators and greenhouse gas emissions: The perspective of farms in Poland at the regional level

“…Data concerning agricultural holdings used in the analysis come from the FADN system and are published by the Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics -National Research Institute (Polski FADN). Despite the fact that it mainly concerns the economic situation of agricultural holdings, it is also used for environmental analyses (Wilk, 2007;Piekut & Machnacki, 2011;Syp & Osuch, 2017;Koloszko-Chomentowska et al, 2021). Different groups of indicators of environmental equilibrium are known in the literature, and their selection depends on data availability (Castoldi & Bechini, 2010;Belanger et al, 2015;Escribano et al, 2014;Paracchini et al, 2015;Prus, 2017;Harasim, 2013).…”

“…Such a solution is consistent with the methodology and standard indicators of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2006) and takes into account emissions indicators development by the National Centre for Emissions Management (KOBiZE). The detailed methodology for calculating methane and nitrous oxide emissions is presented in another paper (Koloszko-Chomentowska et al, 2021). This is a simplified solution.…”