Implications of environmental constraints and opportunities on livestock production and emissions: New Zealand as a case study
New Zealand (NZ) is an important global exporter of various livestock products, however its potential for production is being constrained by environmental restrictions. The aim of this study was to explore future pathways for NZ livestock (dairy, beef, and sheep) production from grazed pastures, whi...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2025-03-01
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| Series: | Cleaner Environmental Systems |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666789425000121 |
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| author | Nannan Zhang Stewart Ledgard Shelley Falconer Jiafa Luo Lin Ma Zhaohai Bai |
| author_facet | Nannan Zhang Stewart Ledgard Shelley Falconer Jiafa Luo Lin Ma Zhaohai Bai |
| author_sort | Nannan Zhang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | New Zealand (NZ) is an important global exporter of various livestock products, however its potential for production is being constrained by environmental restrictions. The aim of this study was to explore future pathways for NZ livestock (dairy, beef, and sheep) production from grazed pastures, which includes changes in land use, GHG mitigations, increased dairy-beef and net carbon neutrality. Life cycle assessment methodology was used to determine national level environmental impacts of livestock production in NZ. Carbon, reactive nitrogen (Nr) and Eutrophication Potential (EP) footprints on a total production basis at national level from livestock systems could be decreased by 39%, 36% and 30%, respectively. Achieving net carbon neutrality of all livestock production with a multiple mitigation scenario gave corresponding emission reductions of 41% for Nr and 36% for EP, requiring afforestation of 0.9 Mha of sheep and beef land. However, transitioning to carbon neutrality for all production reduced total livestock protein production by 7% for current systems and by 21% for the mitigation scenario compared to no carbon neutrality changes. In contrast, increased integration of dairy-derived beef increased national livestock protein production by 3%. Optimized livestock production through greater dairy beef integration and use of multiple mitigations offers the most promising pathway for low environmental-impact livestock production in NZ. However, this should aim at minimizing effects on livestock production due to the large impact on global food exports, while higher value or premiums for low environmental-impact products will be important to encourage changes to meet the environmental constraints. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-3a9817cd3f184160b4fbce244bbccdc3 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2666-7894 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Cleaner Environmental Systems |
| spelling | doaj-art-3a9817cd3f184160b4fbce244bbccdc32025-08-20T02:57:33ZengElsevierCleaner Environmental Systems2666-78942025-03-011610026610.1016/j.cesys.2025.100266Implications of environmental constraints and opportunities on livestock production and emissions: New Zealand as a case studyNannan Zhang0Stewart Ledgard1Shelley Falconer2Jiafa Luo3Lin Ma4Zhaohai Bai5Key Laboratory of Agricultural Water Resources, Hebei Key Laboratory of Soil Ecology, Center for Agricultural Resources Research, Institute of Genetic and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shijiazhuang, 050022, Hebei, China; AgResearch Limited, Ruakura Research Centre, Private Bag 3123, Hamilton, 3214, New Zealand; Corresponding author. Key Laboratory of Agricultural Water Resources, Hebei Key Laboratory of Soil Ecology, Center for Agricultural Resources Research, Institute of Genetic and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shijiazhuang, 050022, Hebei, China.AgResearch Limited, Ruakura Research Centre, Private Bag 3123, Hamilton, 3214, New ZealandAgResearch Limited, Ruakura Research Centre, Private Bag 3123, Hamilton, 3214, New ZealandAgResearch Limited, Ruakura Research Centre, Private Bag 3123, Hamilton, 3214, New ZealandKey Laboratory of Agricultural Water Resources, Hebei Key Laboratory of Soil Ecology, Center for Agricultural Resources Research, Institute of Genetic and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shijiazhuang, 050022, Hebei, ChinaKey Laboratory of Agricultural Water Resources, Hebei Key Laboratory of Soil Ecology, Center for Agricultural Resources Research, Institute of Genetic and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shijiazhuang, 050022, Hebei, ChinaNew Zealand (NZ) is an important global exporter of various livestock products, however its potential for production is being constrained by environmental restrictions. The aim of this study was to explore future pathways for NZ livestock (dairy, beef, and sheep) production from grazed pastures, which includes changes in land use, GHG mitigations, increased dairy-beef and net carbon neutrality. Life cycle assessment methodology was used to determine national level environmental impacts of livestock production in NZ. Carbon, reactive nitrogen (Nr) and Eutrophication Potential (EP) footprints on a total production basis at national level from livestock systems could be decreased by 39%, 36% and 30%, respectively. Achieving net carbon neutrality of all livestock production with a multiple mitigation scenario gave corresponding emission reductions of 41% for Nr and 36% for EP, requiring afforestation of 0.9 Mha of sheep and beef land. However, transitioning to carbon neutrality for all production reduced total livestock protein production by 7% for current systems and by 21% for the mitigation scenario compared to no carbon neutrality changes. In contrast, increased integration of dairy-derived beef increased national livestock protein production by 3%. Optimized livestock production through greater dairy beef integration and use of multiple mitigations offers the most promising pathway for low environmental-impact livestock production in NZ. However, this should aim at minimizing effects on livestock production due to the large impact on global food exports, while higher value or premiums for low environmental-impact products will be important to encourage changes to meet the environmental constraints.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666789425000121Livestock productionGreenhouse gas emissionsreactive nitrogenEutrophication potentialLife cycle assessmentGrazing systems |
| spellingShingle | Nannan Zhang Stewart Ledgard Shelley Falconer Jiafa Luo Lin Ma Zhaohai Bai Implications of environmental constraints and opportunities on livestock production and emissions: New Zealand as a case study Cleaner Environmental Systems Livestock production Greenhouse gas emissions reactive nitrogen Eutrophication potential Life cycle assessment Grazing systems |
| title | Implications of environmental constraints and opportunities on livestock production and emissions: New Zealand as a case study |
| title_full | Implications of environmental constraints and opportunities on livestock production and emissions: New Zealand as a case study |
| title_fullStr | Implications of environmental constraints and opportunities on livestock production and emissions: New Zealand as a case study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Implications of environmental constraints and opportunities on livestock production and emissions: New Zealand as a case study |
| title_short | Implications of environmental constraints and opportunities on livestock production and emissions: New Zealand as a case study |
| title_sort | implications of environmental constraints and opportunities on livestock production and emissions new zealand as a case study |
| topic | Livestock production Greenhouse gas emissions reactive nitrogen Eutrophication potential Life cycle assessment Grazing systems |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666789425000121 |
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