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Reducing environmental impact of dairy cattle: a Czech case study
Martina Havlikova1, Carolien Kroeze
1Wageningen University, Environmental Systems Analysis Group, P.O. Box 47, 6700 AA Wageningen, the Netherlands. mh3008@columbia.edu
Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management
|September 8, 2010
Summary
Reducing dairy cattle
Area of Science:
- Agricultural Science
- Environmental Science
- Environmental Management
Background:
- Dairy cattle production significantly contributes to environmental issues.
- Aquatic eutrophication and global warming are key environmental problems linked to dairy farming.
- Nitrate leaching and animal housing emissions are major sources of these impacts.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze strategies for minimizing the future environmental impact of dairy cattle production.
- To identify cost-effective solutions for reducing the overall environmental impact (OEI).
- To assess the sensitivity of environmental impact reduction strategies to various factors.
Main Methods:
- Utilized the DAIRY optimization model for the Czech Republic.
- Calculated the overall environmental impact (OEI) of dairy production.
- Performed sensitivity analyses on weighting factors and future production scenarios (cattle numbers, milk yield).
Main Results:
- A 20% reduction in OEI by 2020 is estimated to cost 12 million Euros.
- Improving animal manure efficiency as fertilizer is the most cost-effective reduction method.
- Aquatic eutrophication and global warming remain the primary concerns regardless of weighting factors.
Conclusions:
- Integrated assessment models like DAIRY can guide policy decisions for sustainable dairy production.
- Policy recommendations for reducing environmental impact are robust across different weighting factors.
- Dairy production's environmental impact is more sensitive to changes in cattle numbers than milk yield.
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