Environmental assessment of organic dairy farms in the US: Mideast, northeast, southeast, and mountain regions

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, ammonia (NH3) emissions, eutrophication potential (EP), use of fossil energy, direct land, and blue water of organic dairy farms are evaluated in the Mideast, Northeast, Southeast, and Mountain regions of the US. Eighteen archetypical organic dairy farms are modeled w...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Horacio A. Aguirre-Villegas, Nicole Rakobitsch, Michel A. Wattiaux, Erin Silva, Rebecca A. Larson
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2024-12-01
Series:Cleaner Environmental Systems
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666789424000710
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850054335330779136
author Horacio A. Aguirre-Villegas
Nicole Rakobitsch
Michel A. Wattiaux
Erin Silva
Rebecca A. Larson
author_facet Horacio A. Aguirre-Villegas
Nicole Rakobitsch
Michel A. Wattiaux
Erin Silva
Rebecca A. Larson
author_sort Horacio A. Aguirre-Villegas
collection DOAJ
description Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, ammonia (NH3) emissions, eutrophication potential (EP), use of fossil energy, direct land, and blue water of organic dairy farms are evaluated in the Mideast, Northeast, Southeast, and Mountain regions of the US. Eighteen archetypical organic dairy farms are modeled with GHGs per kg fat and protein corrected milk (FPCM) ranging between 0.83 and 1.45 kg CO2-eq with and 0.93 to 1.59 kg CO2-eq without carbon sequestration. Enteric methane (CH4) is the major contributor (42–58%) of farm GHGs, followed by CH4 from manure (15–27%), energy use (8–18%), and material inputs (3–24%). Enteric CH4 is affected by feed efficiency and milk production, manure CH4 by the type of manure handled and stored, and GHGs from energy by the content of fossil-fuel sources in the electricity grid mix. Manure is the major source of NH3 emissions ranging from 8.2 to 24.3 g/kg FPCM. Alternative GHG mitigation strategies show potential reductions of up to 23 and 51% for individual and combined strategies, respectively. While enteric CH4 is the greatest GHG contributor, manure management has greater GHG mitigation potential. The choice of CH4 predictive equations, N2O emission factors, allocation, and functional units could increase GHGs up to 43% in the evaluated organic dairy farms.
format Article
id doaj-art-a323741d656a4fc196fd43933f05da91
institution DOAJ
issn 2666-7894
language English
publishDate 2024-12-01
publisher Elsevier
record_format Article
series Cleaner Environmental Systems
spelling doaj-art-a323741d656a4fc196fd43933f05da912025-08-20T02:52:17ZengElsevierCleaner Environmental Systems2666-78942024-12-011510023310.1016/j.cesys.2024.100233Environmental assessment of organic dairy farms in the US: Mideast, northeast, southeast, and mountain regionsHoracio A. Aguirre-Villegas0Nicole Rakobitsch1Michel A. Wattiaux2Erin Silva3Rebecca A. Larson4Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 550 N Park St, Madison, WI, 53706, United States; Corresponding author.CROPP Cooperative, Organic Valley, One Organic Way, La Farge, WI, 54639, United StatesAnimal and Dairy Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1675 Observatory Dr., Madison, WI, 53706, United StatesPlant Pathology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1630 Linden Dr., Madison, WI, 53706, United StatesNelson Institute for Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 550 N Park St, Madison, WI, 53706, United StatesGreenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, ammonia (NH3) emissions, eutrophication potential (EP), use of fossil energy, direct land, and blue water of organic dairy farms are evaluated in the Mideast, Northeast, Southeast, and Mountain regions of the US. Eighteen archetypical organic dairy farms are modeled with GHGs per kg fat and protein corrected milk (FPCM) ranging between 0.83 and 1.45 kg CO2-eq with and 0.93 to 1.59 kg CO2-eq without carbon sequestration. Enteric methane (CH4) is the major contributor (42–58%) of farm GHGs, followed by CH4 from manure (15–27%), energy use (8–18%), and material inputs (3–24%). Enteric CH4 is affected by feed efficiency and milk production, manure CH4 by the type of manure handled and stored, and GHGs from energy by the content of fossil-fuel sources in the electricity grid mix. Manure is the major source of NH3 emissions ranging from 8.2 to 24.3 g/kg FPCM. Alternative GHG mitigation strategies show potential reductions of up to 23 and 51% for individual and combined strategies, respectively. While enteric CH4 is the greatest GHG contributor, manure management has greater GHG mitigation potential. The choice of CH4 predictive equations, N2O emission factors, allocation, and functional units could increase GHGs up to 43% in the evaluated organic dairy farms.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666789424000710Life cycle assessmentorganicDairyGHGammonia emissionsManagement practices
spellingShingle Horacio A. Aguirre-Villegas
Nicole Rakobitsch
Michel A. Wattiaux
Erin Silva
Rebecca A. Larson
Environmental assessment of organic dairy farms in the US: Mideast, northeast, southeast, and mountain regions
Cleaner Environmental Systems
Life cycle assessment
organic
Dairy
GHG
ammonia emissions
Management practices
title Environmental assessment of organic dairy farms in the US: Mideast, northeast, southeast, and mountain regions
title_full Environmental assessment of organic dairy farms in the US: Mideast, northeast, southeast, and mountain regions
title_fullStr Environmental assessment of organic dairy farms in the US: Mideast, northeast, southeast, and mountain regions
title_full_unstemmed Environmental assessment of organic dairy farms in the US: Mideast, northeast, southeast, and mountain regions
title_short Environmental assessment of organic dairy farms in the US: Mideast, northeast, southeast, and mountain regions
title_sort environmental assessment of organic dairy farms in the us mideast northeast southeast and mountain regions
topic Life cycle assessment
organic
Dairy
GHG
ammonia emissions
Management practices
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666789424000710
work_keys_str_mv AT horacioaaguirrevillegas environmentalassessmentoforganicdairyfarmsintheusmideastnortheastsoutheastandmountainregions
AT nicolerakobitsch environmentalassessmentoforganicdairyfarmsintheusmideastnortheastsoutheastandmountainregions
AT michelawattiaux environmentalassessmentoforganicdairyfarmsintheusmideastnortheastsoutheastandmountainregions
AT erinsilva environmentalassessmentoforganicdairyfarmsintheusmideastnortheastsoutheastandmountainregions
AT rebeccaalarson environmentalassessmentoforganicdairyfarmsintheusmideastnortheastsoutheastandmountainregions