Division of Food Production and Society
DairyMix. Multi-criteria assessment, decision support and management tools for sustainable circular mixed farming systems for dairy production
End: aug 2025
Start: mar 2022
A total of 10 research institutions from Europe and Latin America have joint forces to develop a tool for dairy farmers. The overall aim is to increase sustainability and reinforce climate friendly mixed crop and dairy production systems.
More information
Information about the project from the funding bodyProject participants
Ellen Elverland Bjørn Egil Flø Habtamu Alem Lennart Kokemohr Klaus Mittenzwei Divina Gracia P. Rodriguez
| Status | Active |
| External project link | DairyMix website |
| Start - end date | 01.03.2022 - 31.08.2025 |
| Project manager | Grete H. M. Jørgensen |
| Division | Division of Food Production and Society |
| Department | Grassland and Livestock |
| Total budget | 3583000 |
| Funding source | The Joint Call of the Cofund ERA-Nets SusCrop (Grant N° 771134), FACCE ERA-GAS (Grant N° 696356), ICT-AGRI-FOOD (Grant N° 862665) and SusAn (Grant N° 696231) |
Det main coordinator is Prof. Barbara Amon from the Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy (ATB) in Germany. NIBIO coordinates contact with case study farms and data in Norway and leads the work package 5.
The DairyMix project aims to use multi-criteria assessment, and develop decision support, modelling and management tools for sustainable circular mixed farming systems for dairy production.
The project is structured in five work packages.
WP1: Coordination and management.
WP2: Case studies, data from the extensive DATAMAN database, Eurostat data and data from OTICE, the online barn climate and emission control tool will be collected and analysed.
WP3: Detailed modelling analysis on carbon and nutrient utilization and circularity of mixed farming systems for dairy production.
WP4: brings WP2 and WP3 together for a multi-criteria assessment of mixed farming systems for dairy production based on indicators for circularity and efficient resource use developed in WP2 and WP3.
WP5: Details a range of communication and dissemination activities and hosts the interactive web application - the MilKey/DairyMix platform - to analyse farm data and to evaluate effects of changes in farming practice at farm and regional level with regards to environmental, economic and societal sustainability indicators.
The output of this project will have farmers and other stakeholders in the primary sector as target group, and will also be relevant for society and policy makers. DairyMix will be a major step forward in achieving GHG mitigation and circularity between cropping systems and dairy production systems with flexible and context specific solutions being developed for key European areas and for Latin America.
Publications in the project
Authors
Xabier Díaz de Otálora Agustín del Prado Federico Dragoni Lorraine Balaine Guillermo Pardo Wilfried Winiwarter Anna Sandrucci Giorgio Ragaglini Tina Kabelitz Marek Kieronczyk Grete H. M. Jørgensen Fernando Estellés Barbara AmonAbstract
Understanding the environmental consequences associated with dairy cattle production systems is crucial for the implementation of targeted strategies for emission reduction. However, few studies have modelled the effect of tailored emission mitigation options across key European dairy production systems. Here, we assess the single and combined effect of six emission mitigation practises on selected case studies across Europe through the Sustainable and Integrated Management System for Dairy Production model. This semi-mechanistic model accounts for the interacting flows from a whole-farm perspective simulating the environmental losses in response to different management strategies and site-specific conditions. The results show how reducing the crude protein content of the purchased fraction of the diet was an adequate strategy to reduce the greenhouse gas and nitrogen emission intensity in all systems. Furthermore, implementing an anaerobic digestion plant reduced the greenhouse gas emissions in all tested case studies while increasing the nitrogen emissions intensity, particularly when slurry was applied using broadcast. Regarding the productivity increase, contrasting effects were observed amongst the case studies modelled. Moreover, shallow slurry injection effectively mitigated the intensity of nitrogen losses from the fields due to strong reductions in ammonia volatilisation. When substituting urea with ammonium nitrate as mineral fertiliser, site-specific conditions affected the mitigation potential observed, discouraging its application on sandy-loam soils. Rigid slurry covers effectively reduced the storage-related nitrogen emissions intensity while showing a minor effect on total greenhouse gas emission intensity. In addition, our results provide novel evidence regarding the advantages of cumulative implementation of adapted mitigation options to offset the negative trade-offs of single-option applications (i.e. slurry covers or anaerobic digestion and slurry injection). Through this study, we contribute to a better understanding of the effect of emission mitigation options across dairy production systems in Europe, thus facilitating the adoption of tailored and context-specific emission reduction strategies.
Authors
X. Díaz de Otálora B. Amon L. Balaine F. Dragoni F. Estellés G. Ragaglini M. Kieronczyk Grete H. M. Jørgensen A. del PradoAbstract
CONTEXT European dairy cattle production systems (DPS) are facing multiple challenges that threaten their social, economic, and environmental sustainability. In this context, it is crucial to implement options to promote the reconnection between crop and livestock systems as a way to reduce emissions and enhance nutrient circularity. However, given the sector's diversity, the successful implementation of these options lacks an evaluation framework that jointly considers the climatic conditions, farm characteristics, manure management and mineral fertilisation practices of DPS across Europe. OBJECTIVE This study aims to develop a modelling and statistical framework to assess the effect of climatic conditions, farm characteristics, manure management and mineral fertilisation practices on the on-farm sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and nitrogen (N) losses from ten contrasting case studies for dairy production across Europe, identifying options for emissions mitigation and nutrient circularity. METHODS Using the SIMSDAIRY deterministic whole-farm modelling approach, we estimated the GHG emissions and N losses from the ten case studies. SIMSDAIRY captures the effect of different farm management choices and site-specific conditions on nutrient cycling and emissions from different components of a dairy farm. In addition, we applied the Factor Analysis for Mixed Data multivariate statistical approach to quantitative and qualitative variables and identified relationships among emissions, nutrient losses, and the particular characteristics of the case studies assessed. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS The results showed how intensive case study farms in temperate climates were associated with lower enteric emissions but higher emissions from manure management (e.g. housing). In contrast, semi-extensive case study farms in cooler climates exhibited higher N losses and GHG emissions, directly linked to increased mineral fertilisation, excreta during grazing, and slurry application using broadcast. Furthermore, the results indicated opportunities to improve nutrient circularity and crop-livestock integration by including high-quality forages instead of concentrates and substituting mineral fertilisers with organic fertilisers. SIGNIFICANCE The presented framework provides valuable insights for designing, implementing, and monitoring context-specific emission mitigation options and nutrient circularity practices. By combining whole-farm modelling approaches and multivariate statistical methods, we enhance the understanding of the interactions between sources of N losses and GHG emissions. We expect our findings to inform the adoption of emissions reduction and circularity practices by fostering the recoupling between crop and livestock systems.
Authors
Habtamu AlemAbstract
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Abstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Habtamu AlemAbstract
This study aims to estimate eco-efficiency scores and identify determinants of Norwegian dairy farms using a parametric approach that accounts for methane emissions. The study incorporates an environmental output measure and draws on 30 years of panel data from 692 specialist dairy farms (1991–2020). The findings indicate that Norwegian dairy farms are inefficient, with room for improvement in the dairy production system and the environment. According to the average eco-efficiency score, conventional dairy farms could cut input use and CH4 emissions by 5% while maintaining output. Furthermore, the study found that land tenure, experience, and government subsidies all positively impact eco-efficiency. Policymakers should encourage the best-performing dairy farms to share information on increasing productivity while considering environmental concerns to achieve better social and agricultural development. It should be noted that the study only looks at livestock methane emissions; future research may investigate other environmental factors.
Authors
Habtamu AlemAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Habtamu AlemAbstract
No abstract has been registered
Authors
Aurelie Wilfart Vincent Baillet Lorraine Balaine Xabier Díaz de Otálora Federico Dragoni Dominika Joanna Krol Joanna Frątczak-Müller Anna Rychła Divina Gracia P. Rodriguez James Breen Vasileios Anestis Cathal Buckley Habtamu Alem Wilfried Winiwarter Nouraya Akkal-Corfini Barbara AmonAbstract
Growing awareness of global challenges and increasing pressures on the farming sector, including the urgent requirement to rapidly cut greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions, emphasize the need for sustainable production, which is particularly relevant for dairy production systems. Comparing dairy production systems across the three sustainability dimensions is a considerable challenge, notably due to the heterogeneity of production conditions in Europe. To overcome this, we developed an ex-post multicriteria assessment tool that adopts a holistic approach across the three sustainability dimensions. This tool is based on the DEXi framework, which associates a hierarchical decision model with an expert perspective and follows a tree-shaped structure; thus, we called it the DEXi-Dairy tool. For each dimension of sustainability, qualitative attributes were defined and organized in themes, sub-themes, and indicators. Their choice was guided by three objectives: (i) better describe the main challenges faced by European dairy production systems, (ii) point out synergies and trade-offs across sustainability dimensions, and (iii) contribute to the identification of GHG mitigation strategies at the farm level. Qualitative scales for each theme, sub-theme, and indicator were defined together with weighting factors used to aggregate each level of the tree. Based on selected indicators, a list of farm data requirements was developed to populate the sustainability tree. The model was then tested on seven case study farms distributed across Europe. DEXi-Dairy presents a qualitative method that allows for the comparison of different inputs and the evaluation of the three sustainability dimensions in an integrated manner. By assessing synergies and trade-offs across sustainability dimensions, DEXi-Dairy is able to reflect the heterogeneity of dairy production systems. Results indicate that, while trade-offs occasionally exist among respective selected sub-themes, certain farming systems tend to achieve a higher sustainability score than others and hence could serve as benchmarks for further analyses.
