Environmental footprint and efficiency of mountain dairy farms

The study presents the results of a project (IR VA Italia-Österreich ‘TOPValue’) aiming at identifying the added value of livestock ‘mountain products’ in terms of multifunctionality. The specific aim of this paper is to analyse the environmental footprint (Life Cycle Assessment method) and production efficiency (gross energy and potentially human-edible conversion ratios, ECR and HeECR respectively). Data originated from 75 farms (38±25 LU, 20.9±5.4 kg fat protein corrected milk – FPCM/cow/day), associated to 9 cooperative dairies in the eastern Alps. Herd and manure management, on-farm feedstuffs production, purchased feedstuffs and materials were included into the system boundaries. Impact categories assessed were Climate Change, Cumulative Energy Demand, Land Occupation (LO). Two functional units were used: 1 kg of FPCM and 1 m2 of farming land. Milk vs meat allocation (IDF method) was used. Mean impact values were 1.2±0.2 kg CO2-eq, 3.3±1.6 MJ, 2.3±1.0 m2/y per 1 kg FPCM, and 0.5±0.2 kg CO2-eq, 1.4±0.7 MJ per 1 m2. Mean ECR was 6.5±0.9 MJ feed/MJ milk, with 93% of gross energy deriving from non-human-edible feedstuffs, nearly totally produced on-farm. We tested the effect of herd size (3 classes) and management strategies (use of pasture and/or summer farms). Herd size did not affect impact categories, ECR and HeECR. Farms using pasture and/or summer farms for lactating cows showed significant greater values for LO per 1 kg FPCM and lower values for impact categories per 1 m2, probably because of a lower stocking rate (-35%). Besides, farms with pastures showed a greater diet self-sufficiency ratio (+32%) and a lower HeECR (-41%) due to lower use of potentially human-edible concentrates. The results evidenced that the traditional managing options in the mountain dairy farming system (small-scale farms using pasture and summer transhumance) generally do not worsen the environmental footprint indicators but enhance the decoupling of milk production from crop production intended for direct human consumption.