Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-29T07:01:17.891Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Farm-specific carbon footprinting to the farm gate for agricultural co-products using the OVERSEER® model

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 June 2013

D. M. Wheeler ,
S. F. Ledgard  and
M. Boyes
D. M. Wheeler*
Affiliation:
AgResearch, Private Bag 3123, Hamilton, 3240, New Zealand
S. F. Ledgard
Affiliation:
AgResearch, Private Bag 3123, Hamilton, 3240, New Zealand
M. Boyes
Affiliation:
AgResearch, Private Bag 3123, Hamilton, 3240, New Zealand
*
†E-mail: david.wheeler@agresearch.co.nz
Get access

Abstract

The user inputs to OVERSEER® Nutrient Budgets (Overseer) allow farm-specific greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to be estimated. Since the development of the original model, life cycle assessment standards (e.g. PAS 2050) have been proposed and adopted for determining GHG or carbon footprints, which are usually reported as emissions per unit of product, for example, per kg milk, meat or wool. New Zealand pastoral farms frequently generate a range of products with different management practices. A robust system is required to allocate the individual sources of GHGs (e.g. methane, nitrous oxide, direct carbon dioxide and embodied carbon dioxide emissions for inputs used on the farm) to each product from a farm. This paper describes a method for allocating emissions to co-products from New Zealand farms. The method requires allocating the emissions, first, to an animal enterprise, separating the emissions between breeding and trading animals, and then allocating to a specific product to give product (e.g. milk, meat, wool, velvet) footprints from the ‘cradle-to-farm-gate’. The meat product was based on live-weight gain. Procedures were adopted so that emissions associated with rearing of young stock used in live-weight gain systems, both as a by-product or a primary product could be estimated. This allows the possibility of total emissions for a meat product to be built up from contributing farms along the production chain.

Keywords

agriculturalcarbon footprintpastoral farminggreenhouse gas emissionslivestock products
Type
Full Paper
Information
animal , Volume 7 , Issue s2: Greenhouse Gases & Animal Agriculture Conference (GGAA 2013), 23rd ‐ 26th June 2013, Dublin, Ireland , June 2013 , pp. 437 - 443
Copyright
Copyright © The Animal Consortium 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Barber, A, Pellow, G, Marber, M 2011. Carbon footprint of New Zealand arable production – wheat, maize silage, maize grain and ryegrass seed. Report prepared by Foundation for Arable Research and Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. MAF technical paper no.: 2011/97. AgriLink, New Zealand, 68pp.Google Scholar
BSI 2011. PAS2050: 2011 Specification for the assessment of the life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of goods and services. British Standards Institution. Retrieved November 8, 2012, from http://shop.bsigroup.com/en/forms/PASs/PAS-2050.Google Scholar
Eady, S, Carre, A, Grant, T 2012. Life cycle assessment modeling of complex agricultural; systems with multiple food and fibre co-products. Journal of Cleaner Production 28, 143–149.Google Scholar
Flysjö, A, Henriksson, M, Cederberg, C, Ledgard, S, Englund, J-E 2011. The impact of various parameters on the carbon footprint of milk production in New Zealand and Sweden. Agricultural Systems 104, 459–469.Google Scholar
Frater, TG 2010. Energy in New Zealand apple production. PhD thesis, Massey University.Google Scholar
Gac, A, Ledgard, S, Lorinquer, E, Boyes, M, Le Gall, A 2012. Carbon footprint of sheep farms in France and New Zealand: comparison of results and methodology analysis. In Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Life Cycle Assessment in the Agri-Food Sector (LCA Food 2012), 1–4 October 2012, Saint Malo, France. INRA, Rennes, France, pp. 310–314.Google Scholar
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 2006. IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories: Volume 4: Agriculture, Forestry and other Land Use. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Paris, France. Retrieved November 8, 2012, from http://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/2006gl/vol4.htmGoogle Scholar
International Dairy Federation 2010. A common carbon footprint approach for dairy. The IDF guide to standard lifecycle assessment methodology for the dairy sector. Bulletin of the International Dairy Federation 445/2010, Brussels, Belgium, 46pp.Google Scholar
Ledgard, SF, Lieffering, M, Coup, D, O'Brien, B 2011a. Carbon footprinting of New Zealand lamb from an exporting nation's perspective. Animal Frontiers 1, 27–32.Google Scholar
Ledgard, SF, Boyes, M, Brentrup, F 2011b. Life cycle assessment of local and imported fertilisers used on New Zealand farms. In Occasional Report No. 24, Fertilizer and Lime Research Centre, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand, 13pp.Google Scholar
Ledgard, SF, Basset-Mens, C, Boyes, M, Clark, H 2008. Carbon footprint measurement: carbon footprint for a range of milk suppliers in New Zealand. Report to Fonterra. AgResearch, Hamilton, 41pp.Google Scholar
Ledgard, SF, McDevitt, J, Boyes, M, Lieffering, M, Kemp, R 2009. Greenhouse gas footprint of lamb meat: Methodology report. Report to MAF (November 2009). AgResearch, Hamilton, 36pp.Google Scholar
Ledgard, SF, Lieffering, M, McDevitt, J, Boyes, M, Kemp, R 2010. A greenhouse gas footprint study for exported New Zealand lamb. Report for Meat Industry Association, Ballance Agri-nutrients, Landcorp and MAF. AgResearch, Hamilton, 26pp.Google Scholar
Lieffering, M, Ledgard, S, Boyes, M, Kemp, R 2010a. Illustrative examples of the effect of new technologies, management strategies and consumers on the carbon footprint of New Zealand pastoral meat products, p. 112. In EcoBalance 2010. Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Ecobalance. Towards and Beyond 2020. Tokyo, Japan.Google Scholar
Lieffering, M, Ledgard, S, Boyes, M, Kemp, R 2010b. Beef greenhouse gas footprint: Final report. Report to MAF. AgResearch, Hamilton, 95pp.Google Scholar
Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry 2009. Pastoral Monitoring Report 2008. Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Wellington, New Zealand, 265pp.Google Scholar
Ministry for the Environment 2011. New Zealand's greenhouse gas inventory 1990–2009. Ministry for the Environment, Wellington, New Zealand, 319p. Retrieved November 8, 2012, from http://www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/climate/greenhouse-gas-inventory-2010/index.htmlGoogle Scholar
Mithraratne, N, Barber, A, McLaren, SJ 2010. Carbon Footprinting for the Kiwifruit Supply Chain – Report on Methodology and Scoping Study. Landcare Research Contract Report LC0708/156 (Revised edition). Prepared for Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, 77p. Retrieved November 8, 2012, from http://www.landcareresearch.co.nz/publications/researchpubs/Kiwifruit_Methodology_Report_2010.pdfGoogle Scholar
Nebel, B 2008. Electricity and transport data for MAF GHG projects. Report for MAF. Scion, Rotorua, New Zealand, 4pp.Google Scholar
Nguyen, TT, Hermansen, JE, Mogensen, L 2012. Environmental consequences of different beef production systems in the EU. Journal of Cleaner Production 18, 756–766.Google Scholar
Rankin, D, Ledgard, S, Boyes, M 2010. Greenhouse Gas Footprint of Strong Wool. Report to MAF. AgResearch, Hamilton, 53pp.Google Scholar
Wheeler, DM 2012a. Calculation of methane emissions. OVERSEER® Technical Manual. ISSN: 2253-461X. 15pp. Retrieved November 8, 2012, from http://www.overseer.org.nz/OVERSEERModel/Information/Technicalmanual.aspxGoogle Scholar
Wheeler, DM 2012b. Calculation of nitrous oxide emissions. OVERSEER® Technical Manual. ISSN: 2253-461X. 20pp. Retrieved November 8, 2012, from http://www.overseer.org.nz/OVERSEERModel/Information/Technicalmanual.aspxGoogle Scholar
Wheeler, DM 2012c. Carbon dioxide emissions. OVERSEER® Technical Manual. ISSN: 2253-461X. 59pp. Retrieved February 26, 2013, from http://www.overseer.org.nz/OVERSEERModel/Information/Technicalmanual.aspxGoogle Scholar
Wheeler, DM, Shepherd, MA 2012. Introduction. OVERSEER® Technical Manual. ISSN: 2253-461X. 59pp. Retrieved February 26, 2013, from http://www.overseer.org.nz/OVERSEERModel/Information/Technicalmanual.aspxGoogle Scholar
Wheeler, DM, Ledgard, SF, DeKlein, CAM 2008. Using the OVERSEER® nutrient budget model to estimate on-farm greenhouse gas emissions. Australian Journal of Experiment Agriculture 48, 99–101.Google Scholar
Williams, A, Audsley, E, Saunders, D 2012. A systems-LCA model of the stratified UK sheep industry. In Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on LCA in the Agri-Food sector, pp. 304–309.Google Scholar