https://cyberleninka.org/article/n/1082452.pdf

Invited review: Enteric methane in dairy cattle production: Quantifying the opportunities and impact of reducing emissions

The major subsistence food systems of the world that feed resource‐poor populations are identified and their capacity to supply essential nutrients in reasonable balance to the people dependent on them has been considered for some of these with a view to overcoming their nutrient limitations in sound agronomic and sustainable ways. The approach discusses possible cropping system improvements and alternatives in terms of crop combinations, external mineral supply, additional crops, and the potential for breeding staples in order to enhance their nutritional balance while maintaining or improving the sustainability and dietary, agronomic, and societal acceptability of the system. The conceptual framework calls for attention first to balancing crop nutrition that in nearly every case will also increase crop productivity, allowing sufficient staple to be produced on less land so that the remaining land can be devoted to more nutrient‐dense and nutrient‐balancing crops. Once this is achieved, the additional requirements of humans and animals (vitamins, selenium, and iodine) can be addressed. Case studies illustrate principles and strategies. This chapter is a proposal to widen the range of tools and strategies that could be adopted in the HarvestPlus Challenge Program to achieve its goals of eliminating micronutrient deficiencies in the food systems of resource‐poor countries.

/pdf/nutritious-subsistence-food-systems-52czc438o9.pdf

Nutritious subsistence food systems

It begins by presenting a global overview, examining the role that livestock play in human nutrition, the world food supply and access to food particularly for poor families. Next it moves from the global level to a human perspective, examining the way in which livestock contributes to the food security of three different human populations –livestock-dependent societies, small-scale mixed farmers and urban dwellers.

World livestock 2011 - livestock in food security.

Animal production is a significant source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions worldwide. Depending on the accounting approaches and scope of emissions covered, estimates by various sources (IPCC, FAO, EPA or others) place livestock contribution to global anthropogenic GHG emissions at between 7 and 18 percent. The current analysis was conducted to evaluate the potential of nutritional, manure and animal husbandry practices for mitigating methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) – i.e. non-carbon dioxide (non-CO2) – GHG emissions from livestock production. These practices were categorized into enteric CH4, manure management and animal husbandry mitigation practices. Emphasis was placed on enteric CH4 mitigation practices for ruminant animals (only in vivo studies were considered) and manure mitigation practices for both ruminant and monogastric species. Over 900 references were reviewed; and simulation and life cycle assessment analyses were generally excluded. In evaluating mitigation practices, the use of proper units is critical. Expressing enteric CH4 energy production on gross energy intake basis, for example, does not accurately reflect the potential impact of diet quality and composition. Therefore, it is noted that GHG emissions should be expressed on a digestible energy intake basis or per unit of animal product (i.e. GHG emission intensity), because this reflects most accurately the effect of a given mitigation practice on feed intake and the efficiency of animal production. EntErIC CH4 MItIgAtIon prACtICEs Increasing forage digestibility and digestible forage intake will generally reduce GHG emissions from rumen fermentation (and stored manure), when scaled per unit of animal product, and are highly-recommended mitigation practices. For example, enteric CH4 emissions may be reduced when corn silage replaces grass silage in the diet. Legume silages may also have an advantage over grass silage due to their lower fibre content and the additional benefit of replacing inorganic nitrogen fertilizer. Effective silage preservation will improve forage quality on the farm and reduce GHG emission intensity. Introduction of legumes into grass pastures in warm climate regions may offer a mitigation opportunity, although more research is needed to address the associated agronomic challenges and comparative N2O emissions with equivalent production levels from nitrogen fertilizer. Dietary lipids are effective in reducing enteric CH4 emissions, but the applicability of this practice will depend on its cost and its effects on feed intake, production and milk composition. High-oil by-product feeds, such as distiller’s grains, may offer an economically feasible alternative to oil supplementation as a mitigation practice, although their higher fibre content may have an opposite effect on enteric CH4, depending on basal diet composition. Inclusion of concentrate feeds in the diet of ruminants will likely decrease enteric CH4 emissions per unit of animal product, particularly when above 40 percent of dry matter intake. The effect may depend on type of ‘concentrate’ inclusion rate, production response, impact on fibre digestibility, level of nutrition, composition of the basal diet and feed processing.

Mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions in livestock production - A review of technical options for non-CO2 emissions

http://www.uaaan.mx/~jmelbos/cursosma/sist10.pdf

Invited review: Sustainability of the US dairy industry.

Benchmarking of greenhouse gas emissions of bovine milk production systems for 38 countries

The purpose of the study is to assess the economics of dairy farming in Bangladesh and the prospects for improving the dairy income for small-scale producers, which currently form the backbone of the dairy industry. The document begins with a general overview of milk production in the country, followed by a detailed study of dairy farming in the in the northern district of Sirajganj. The study applies a method of farm-level economic analysis developed by the International Farm Comparison Network (IFCN) which is based on the concept of 'typical farms'. Three farm types were identified as 'typical' in the district and were subjected to detailed analysis: A two cow farm with 0.4 ha of land, a ten cow farm with 1.6 ha of land and a 25 cow farm with 1.8 ha of land. Each farm is described in detail with assets, production costs, profits and other economic information presented both graphically and in the text. Preliminary estimates of the margins in the dairy chain are provided. The study concludes that milk production from bovines in Bangladesh is not competitive internationally and that under a liberal trade regime for dairy products dairy farmers in Bangladesh are unlikely to fully benefit from the vast increase in milk demand predicted to occur over the next ten years unless productivity is significantly improved.

/pdf/a-review-of-milk-production-in-bangladesh-with-particular-15g4ww60v8.pdf

A Review of Milk Production in Bangladesh with Particular Emphasis on Small-Scale Producers

The global dairy industry is facing challenges due to the extremely volatile milk price and a substantial increase of feed prices. The goal of this study, therefore, was to compare and benchmark the cost of milk production in 46 countries representing 87% of the world's total milk production, using a standard method developed by the International Farm Comparison Network (IFCN). Two typical farms were selected per country; one average-sized and one larger farm. The cost of milk production in 2010 ranged from 16.91US-$/100kg Energy Corrected Milk (ECM) in Armenia to 97.27 US-$/100kg ECM in Switzerland, with cost differences mainly driven by the diversity in farming and feeding systems. Based on costs, world regions were categorized into four levels: 40-50 US-$ in the EU, Middle East and China; 30-40 US-$ in the USA, Brazil, CEEC and Oceania; 60 US-$ in Austria, Norway, Switzerland and Canada. The major drivers for this variation were ranked as; purchased feed cost (the highest) followed by labor, land and machinery costs. Regression analyzes showed that costs were highly correlated milk yield and milk price but not to herd size.

/pdf/benchmarking-cost-of-milk-production-in-46-countries-522yuwsxmp.pdf

Benchmarking cost of milk production in 46 countries

Dairying in Africa - Status and recent developments

The Ugandan dairy sector is developing rapidly over recent years and is dominated by small-scale farmers owning more than 90 percent of the national cattle population. Due to market forces and higher competition for production factors, milk production systems are intensifying, necessitating proper understanding of the new production tendencies. Three intensive and four extensive production systems were identified and analysed, using TIPI-CAL (Technology Impact Policy Impact Calculations model). The results show that the production systems are very different in many respects but share similar development trends. Whereas intensive systems use graded animals and invest heavily into feeding, buildings and machinery, extensive systems use local breeds and invest minimally. Total cost of milk production falls with increasing herd size, while dairy returns vary among farms from 18 to 35 USD/100 Kg of milk. All systems make an economic profit, except the intensive one-cow farm, which heavily employs family resources in dairying. Due to better management of resources and access to inputs and markets, dairy farming closer to urban areas and using improved breeds is highly profitable, especially with larger herd sizes. Stakeholders should favour such practices as well as others which can improve productivity, especially in African countries where traditional systems dominate dairying.

Torsten Hemme

Papers

Benchmarking of greenhouse gas emissions of bovine milk production systems for 38 countries

A Review of Milk Production in Bangladesh with Particular Emphasis on Small-Scale Producers

Benchmarking cost of milk production in 46 countries

Dairying in Africa - Status and recent developments

Milk production systems in Central Uganda: a farm economic analysis.