IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v12y2020i3p765-d311248.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Increasing Dairy Sustainability with Integrated Crop–Livestock Farming

Author

Listed:
  • Susanne Wiesner

    (Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, Oak Ridge, TN 37830, USA
    U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Madison, 53706, Prairie du Sac, WI 53578, USA
    Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA)

  • Alison J. Duff

    (U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Madison, 53706, Prairie du Sac, WI 53578, USA)

  • Ankur R. Desai

    (Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA)

  • Kevin Panke-Buisse

    (U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Madison, 53706, Prairie du Sac, WI 53578, USA)

Abstract

Dairy farms are predominantly carbon sources, due to high livestock emissions from enteric fermentation and manure. Integrated crop–livestock systems (ICLSs) have the potential to offset these greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, as recycling products within the farm boundaries is prioritized. Here, we quantify seasonal and annual greenhouse gas budgets of an ICLS dairy farm in Wisconsin USA using satellite remote sensing to estimate vegetation net primary productivity (NPP) and Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) guidelines to calculate farm emissions. Remotely sensed annual vegetation NPP correlated well with farm harvest NPP (R 2 = 0.9). As a whole, the farm was a large carbon sink, owing to natural vegetation carbon sinks and harvest products staying within the farm boundaries. Dairy cows accounted for 80% of all emissions as their feed intake dominated farm feed supply. Manure emissions (15%) were low because manure spreading was frequent throughout the year. In combination with soil conservation practices, ICLS farming provides a sustainable means of producing nutritionally valuable food while contributing to sequestration of atmospheric CO 2 . Here, we introduce a simple and cost-efficient way to quantify whole-farm GHG budgets, which can be used by farmers to understand their carbon footprint, and therefore may encourage management strategies to improve agricultural sustainability.

Suggested Citation

  • Susanne Wiesner & Alison J. Duff & Ankur R. Desai & Kevin Panke-Buisse, 2020. "Increasing Dairy Sustainability with Integrated Crop–Livestock Farming," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-21, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:3:p:765-:d:311248
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/3/765/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/3/765/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Doughty, Russell & Xiao, Xiangming & Wu, Xiaocui & Zhang, Yao & Bajgain, Rajen & Zhou, Yuting & Qin, Yuanwei & Zou, Zhenhua & McCarthy, Heather & Friedman, Jack & Wagle, Pradeep & Basara, Jeff & Stein, 2018. "Responses of gross primary production of grasslands and croplands under drought, pluvial, and irrigation conditions during 2010–2016, Oklahoma, USA," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 204(C), pages 47-59.
    2. Saam, H. & Mark Powell, J. & Jackson-Smith, Douglas B. & Bland, William L. & Posner, Joshua L., 2005. "Use of animal density to estimate manure nutrient recycling ability of Wisconsin dairy farms," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 84(3), pages 343-357, June.
    3. Gao, Yanni & Yu, Guirui & Li, Shenggong & Yan, Huimin & Zhu, Xianjin & Wang, Qiufeng & Shi, Peili & Zhao, Liang & Li, Yingnian & Zhang, Fawei & Wang, Yanfen & Zhang, Junhui, 2015. "A remote sensing model to estimate ecosystem respiration in Northern China and the Tibetan Plateau," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 304(C), pages 34-43.
    4. Tzemi, Domna & Breen, James, 2019. "Reducing greenhouse gas emissions through the use of urease inhibitors: A farm level analysis," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 394(C), pages 18-26.
    5. Hanqin Tian & Chaoqun Lu & Philippe Ciais & Anna M. Michalak & Josep G. Canadell & Eri Saikawa & Deborah N. Huntzinger & Kevin R. Gurney & Stephen Sitch & Bowen Zhang & Jia Yang & Philippe Bousquet & , 2016. "The terrestrial biosphere as a net source of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere," Nature, Nature, vol. 531(7593), pages 225-228, March.
    6. Dong, Fengxia & Hennessy, David A. & Jensen, Helen H., 2013. "Size, Productivity and Exit Decisions in Dairy Farms," 2013 Annual Meeting, August 4-6, 2013, Washington, D.C. 150339, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    7. Miguel A. Altieri & Clara I. Nicholls & Rene Montalba, 2017. "Technological Approaches to Sustainable Agriculture at a Crossroads: An Agroecological Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(3), pages 1-13, February.
    8. Veltman, Karin & Rotz, C. Alan & Chase, Larry & Cooper, Joyce & Ingraham, Pete & Izaurralde, R. César & Jones, Curtis D. & Gaillard, Richard & Larson, Rebecca A. & Ruark, Matt & Salas, William & Thoma, 2018. "A quantitative assessment of Beneficial Management Practices to reduce carbon and reactive nitrogen footprints and phosphorus losses on dairy farms in the US Great Lakes region," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 10-25.
    9. L. E. Drinkwater & P. Wagoner & M. Sarrantonio, 1998. "Legume-based cropping systems have reduced carbon and nitrogen losses," Nature, Nature, vol. 396(6708), pages 262-265, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Yane Freitas Silva & Rafael Vasconcelos Valadares & Henrique Boriolo Dias & Santiago Vianna Cuadra & Eleanor E. Campbell & Rubens A. C. Lamparelli & Edemar Moro & Rafael Battisti & Marcelo R. Alves & , 2022. "Intense Pasture Management in Brazil in an Integrated Crop-Livestock System Simulated by the DayCent Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-24, March.
    2. Xinzhou Zhao & Lina Shi & Shanning Lou & Jiao Ning & Yarong Guo & Qianmin Jia & Fujiang Hou, 2021. "Sheep Excrement Increases Mass of Greenhouse Gases Emissions from Soil Growing Two Forage Crop and Multi-Cutting Reduces Intensity," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-16, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jie Zhao & Ji Chen & Damien Beillouin & Hans Lambers & Yadong Yang & Pete Smith & Zhaohai Zeng & Jørgen E. Olesen & Huadong Zang, 2022. "Global systematic review with meta-analysis reveals yield advantage of legume-based rotations and its drivers," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-9, December.
    2. Ghebremichael, Lula T. & Watzin, Mary C., 2011. "Identifying and controlling critical sources of farm phosphorus imbalances for Vermont dairy farms," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 104(7), pages 551-561, September.
    3. Hui Wang & Hong Li & Zhihao Liu & Jianhua Lv & Xinzhang Song & Quan Li & Hong Jiang & Changhui Peng, 2021. "Observed Methane Uptake and Emissions at the Ecosystem Scale and Environmental Controls in a Subtropical Forest," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-16, September.
    4. Azad Haider & Muhammad Iftikhar ul Husnain & Wimal Rankaduwa & Farzana Shaheen, 2021. "Nexus between Nitrous Oxide Emissions and Agricultural Land Use in Agrarian Economy: An ARDL Bounds Testing Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-19, March.
    5. Muller, Adrian, 2006. "Sustainable Agriculture and the Production of Biomass for Energy Use," Working Papers in Economics 216, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics, revised 01 Aug 2008.
    6. Lucas Contarato Pilon & Jordano Vaz Ambus & Elena Blume & Rodrigo Josemar Seminoti Jacques & José Miguel Reichert, 2023. "Citrus Orchards in Agroforestry, Organic, and Conventional Systems: Soil Quality and Functioning," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-28, August.
    7. Andrea Colantoni & Lucia Recchia & Guido Bernabei & Mariateresa Cardarelli & Youssef Rouphael & Giuseppe Colla, 2017. "Analyzing the Environmental Impact of Chemically-Produced Protein Hydrolysate from Leather Waste vs. Enzymatically-Produced Protein Hydrolysate from Legume Grains," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 7(8), pages 1-9, July.
    8. Mousumi Ghosh & Waqar Ashiq & Hiteshkumar Bhogilal Vasava & Duminda N. Vidana Gamage & Prasanta K. Patra & Asim Biswas, 2021. "Short-Term Carbon Sequestration and Changes of Soil Organic Carbon Pools in Rice under Integrated Nutrient Management in India," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-14, April.
    9. Sung Kyu Kim & Fiona Marshall & Neil M. Dawson, 2022. "Revisiting Rwanda’s agricultural intensification policy: benefits of embracing farmer heterogeneity and crop-livestock integration strategies," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 14(3), pages 637-656, June.
    10. Xiaolin Yang & Jinran Xiong & Taisheng Du & Xiaotang Ju & Yantai Gan & Sien Li & Longlong Xia & Yanjun Shen & Steven Pacenka & Tammo S. Steenhuis & Kadambot H. M. Siddique & Shaozhong Kang & Klaus But, 2024. "Diversifying crop rotation increases food production, reduces net greenhouse gas emissions and improves soil health," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-14, December.
    11. Yujie Huang & Yang Su & Ruiliang Li & Haiqing He & Haiyan Liu & Feng Li & Qin Shu, 2019. "Study of the Spatio-Temporal Differentiation of Factors Influencing Carbon Emission of the Planting Industry in Arid and Vulnerable Areas in Northwest China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-14, December.
    12. Ishwari Singh Bisht & Jai Chand Rana & Sudhir Pal Ahlawat, 2020. "The Future of Smallholder Farming in India: Some Sustainability Considerations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-25, May.
    13. Jouan, Julia & Heinrichs, Julia & Britz, Wolfgang & Pahmeyer, Christoph, 2019. "Legume production challenged by European policy coherence: a case-study approach from French and German dairy farms," 172nd EAAE Seminar, May 28-29, 2019, Brussels, Belgium 289765, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    14. Donghui Xu & Gautam Bisht & Zeli Tan & Eva Sinha & Alan V. Vittorio & Tian Zhou & Valeriy Y. Ivanov & L. Ruby Leung, 2024. "Climate change will reduce North American inland wetland areas and disrupt their seasonal regimes," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-14, December.
    15. Kearney, M. & O'Riordan, E.G. & Byrne, N. & Breen, J. & Crosson, P., 2023. "Mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions in pasture-based dairy-beef production systems," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 211(C).
    16. Danuta Leszczyńska & Agnieszka Klimek-Kopyra & Krzysztof Patkowski, 2020. "Evaluation of the Productivity of New Spring Cereal Mixture to Optimize Cultivation under Different Soil Conditions," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-13, August.
    17. Matthew C. LaFevor & Aoife K. Pitts, 2022. "Irrigation Increases Crop Species Diversity in Low-Diversity Farm Regions of Mexico," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-18, June.
    18. Conrad Baker & Albert Thembinkosi Modi & Adornis D. Nciizah, 2021. "Weeding Frequency Effects on Growth and Yield of Dry Bean Intercropped with Sweet Sorghum and Cowpea under a Dryland Area," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-15, November.
    19. Jianxing Chen & Xuesong Gao & Yanyan Zhang & Petri Penttinen & Qi Wang & Jing Ling & Ting Lan & Dinghua Ou & Yang Li, 2023. "Analysis on Coupling Coordination Degree for Cropland and Livestock from 2000 to 2020 in China," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-20, June.
    20. Sanna Lötjönen & Markku Ollikainen, 2017. "Does crop rotation with legumes provide an efficient means to reduce nutrient loads and GHG emissions?," Review of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Studies, Springer, vol. 98(4), pages 283-312, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:3:p:765-:d:311248. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.