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Archive for the ‘Animal Agriculture’ Category
Greenhouse Gas and Animal Ag
Thursday, April 14th, 2011Improving Sustainability Through Efficiency
Saturday, July 24th, 2010
Soybeans are helping U.S. poultry producers do more with less.
One way to progress toward sustainability is to improve the production efficiency of animal agriculture. Producing more with fewer inputs decreases environmental impact per unit of production. This is especially important in agriculture because the global demand for food is increasing at a time when we are acutely aware of the fixed resources available to produce it. Doing more with less isn’t just important, it’s necessary.
Soybeans are helping U.S. poultry producers do more with less. The adoption of high-quality soybean meal made from U.S. soybeans has enabled poultry producers to improve their animals’ feed conversion efficiency. They can now produce one kilogram of poultry meat from less than two kilograms of total feed ration. That’s as much as a 40 percent improvement in conversion efficiency versus the feed rations used earlier.
ANSI Sustainable Agriculture Standard: An Update
Wednesday, July 7th, 2010A successful meeting of the ANSI Sustainable Agriculture Standard steering committee in Arkansas in June resulted in a couple of noteworthy moments. The voting members almost unanimously approved to keep livestock out of the standard. This was a confirmation of a decision made at the steering committee meeting last May that had been re-opened for debate in the prior weeks.
Also, chair of the steering committee, Marty Matlock, stepped down from his position. Vice-chair Ron Moore chaired last week’s meeting.
The committee also approved a number of environmental principles, ranging from soil, water and air pollution to biodiversity to greenhouse gas emissions.
The ANSI Sustainable Agriculture Standard still has some issues to work out around funding moving forward, so we’ll continue to keep an eye on its development in the coming months.
Tracking Pork’s Carbon Footprint
Monday, June 28th, 2010
Lynn Harrison, National Pork Board, Environmental Committee Chair
Through the Pork Checkoff, farmers are funding research efforts at the University of Arkansas Applied Sustainability Center to identify and measure the overall carbon footprint of live swine production and to understand its relationship to the overall pork supply chain.
Here’s what’s been going on over the last year-and-a-half —
- Researchers have conducted an extensive literature review to study what is known about greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), globally, through all segments of the pork chain.
- Raw data were solicited from industry experts and publications, plus regionally specific data for crops and weather patterns.
- This “scan level life-cycle analysis” helped the research team summarize a carbon footprint analysis for a single 4-ounce, prepared serving of boneless pork.
- GHG emissions were evaluated across the entire pork production and delivery system, from feed crops in the field to cooking by the consumer and disposal of the packaging.
Moving ahead, the Checkoff is working on a detailed life-cycle assessment that will identify the portion of GHG contributions based on the weight of hogs leaving the farm. As part of this effort, a user-friendly computer-based tool is under development that will allow producers to get a detailed picture of their own farm’s GHG emission profile.
Pork producers will be able to enter information specific to their farm, such as rations, manure management systems and types and sizes of animal housing. The tool, which will accommodate a variety of production systems, will generate a report for the producer’s use only.
Since lowering GHG emissions usually means lowering energy use, this tool can serve as a road map to lowering input costs while also benefiting the environment. It also shows another way that producers are committed to doing the right thing, as outlined in the industry’s We Care initiative.
For more information, go to www.pork.org.
Updated Life Cycle Information for Soybean Production and Downstream Feedstocks Benefits Many Industries
Tuesday, June 8th, 2010By Jim Pollack, Environmental Business Manager with Omni Tech International Ltd.
Jim Pollak
The recently completed life cycle inventory information for soybean production should be a great aid to anyone wishing to perform an LCA on a product made with a soybean derived ingredient or to compare environmental impacts with another crop.
The individual life cycle stage data for soybeans and their downstream feedstock products are largely based on actual operations data rather than theoretical assumptions, as was the case with the previous data. The updated environmental profile for the soybean production and processing stages has shown overall improvement when compared to the inventory data previously available. The favorable global warming potential impact of raising soybeans remains a positive factor for considering soybean oil or meal derivatives as a feedstock for food or industrial products.
