scholarly journals Factors Affecting Global versus Local Environmental and Economic Performance of Dairying: A Case Study of Swiss Mountain Farms

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 2940 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nina Repar ◽  
Pierrick Jan ◽  
Thomas Nemecek ◽  
Dunja Dux ◽  
Reiner Doluschitz
Keyword(s):  
Economic Performance ◽  
Environmental Performance ◽  
Dairy Farming ◽  
Farm Size ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Global Environmental ◽  
Farming Policy ◽  
Global And Local

Improving the sustainability of the dairy food chain requires a simultaneous improvement in global and local environmental performance, as well as in the economic performance of dairy farms. We investigated the effect of different structural, farm management, socio-demographic, technological and natural-environment-related factors on the economic and environmental performance of dairying. Our analysis relied on a case study of 56 Swiss alpine dairy farm observations, for which cradle-to-farm gate life cycle assessments and farm accountancy data were combined. The data refer to the years 2006 to 2008. The effect of the selected factors on farms’ economic and environmental performance was analysed by means of non-parametric statistical approaches. The results revealed the existence of some factors presenting synergies and several factors showing trade-offs in the enhancement of farm global environmental, local environmental and economic performance. More generally, the promotion of farm global environmental performance and farm economic performance was shown to be synergetic whereas the enhancement of farm global and local environmental performance turned out to be mostly antinomic. However, some factors, namely organic farming, higher agricultural education, silage-free milk production, and also, to a weaker extent, full-time farming, larger farm size and lower intensity of cattle concentrates use, showed a potential to bring simultaneous improvements in the global and local environmental performance as well as the economic performance of dairy farming. Policy-makers should be aware of the complexity of the joint improvement of farm economic and environmental performance and only promote factors capable of synergistically enhancing the environmental and economic performance of dairy farming.

scholarly journals Local versus Global Environmental Performance of Dairying and Their Link to Economic Performance: A Case Study of Swiss Mountain Farms

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. 1294 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nina Repar ◽  
Pierrick Jan ◽  
Thomas Nemecek ◽  
Dunja Dux ◽  
Martina Alig Ceesay ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Economic Performance ◽  
Environmental Performance ◽  
Global Environmental

scholarly journals Assessing the Effect of Modifying Milking Routines on Dairy Farm Economic and Environmental Performance

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 266-277
Author(s):  
Michael Breen ◽  
Michael D. Murphy ◽  
John Upton
Keyword(s):  
Co2 Emissions ◽  
Environmental Performance ◽  
Dairy Farm ◽  
Environmental Benefits ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Net Profit ◽  
Labor Utilization ◽  
Renewable Technology

The objective of this paper was to quantify the economic and environmental effects of changing a dairy farm’s milking start times. Changing morning and evening milking start times could reduce both electricity costs and farm electricity related CO2 emissions. However, this may also involve altering farmer routines which are based on practical considerations. Hence, these changes need to be quantified both in terms of profit/emissions and in terms of how far these milking start times deviate from normal operations. The method presented in this paper optimized the combination of dairy farm infrastructure setup and morning and evening milking start times, based on a weighting variable (α) which assigned relative importance to labor utilization, farm net profit and farm electricity related CO2 emissions. Multi-objective optimization was utilized to assess trade-offs between labor utilization and net profit, as well as labor utilization and electricity related CO2 emissions. For a case study involving a 195 cow Irish dairy farm, when the relative importance of maximizing farm net profit or minimizing farm electricity related CO2 emissions was high, the least common milking start times (06:00 and 20:00) were selected. When the relative importance of labor utilization was high, the most common milking start times (07:00 and 17:00) were selected. The 195 cow farm saved €137 per annum when milking start times were changed from the most common to the least common. Reductions in electricity related CO2 emissions were also seen when the milking start times were changed from most common to least common. However, this reduction in emissions was primarily due to the addition of efficient and renewable technology to the farm. It was deduced that the monetary and environmental benefits of altering farmer milking routines were unlikely to change normal farm operating procedures.

scholarly journals Efeito do sistema de criação no desempenho técnico e econômico de rebanhos leiteiros

2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 1561
Author(s):  
Rodrigo De Andrade Ferrazza ◽  
Marcos Aurelio Lopes ◽  
Fábio Raphael Pascoti Bruhn ◽  
Flavio De Moraes ◽  
Francisval De Melo Carvalho
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Milk Production ◽  
Economic Performance ◽  
Dairy Farms ◽  
Dairy Farming ◽  
The State ◽  
Farm Size ◽  
Operational Costs ◽  
Husbandry System ◽  
Economic Indexes

This study aimed to investigate the effects of husbandry system on the technical and economic performance of dairy farming. Samples included data from 61 dairy farms from the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil, which were collected between 2002 and 2011. Farms were categorized by type-pasture-based (PB), semi-confinement (SC), and confinement (C)-and technical and economic indexes were compared. In general, the results indicated indexes that are higher than the average for Brazilian farms but lower than those in other countries or technological farms in other Brazilian regions. Milk production was mainly determined by farm size rather than by productivity indexes. Components of the total and effective operational costs that were most significant were feeding followed by labor. The comparative analysis indicated that, although C systems have technical indexes that are superior to those of the PB and SC systems, economic performance was independent of the intensification level. Thus, pasture systems are potentially competitive, provided that the producers are efficient.

scholarly journals The Good and the Bad: Environmental Efficiency in Northeastern U.S. Dairy Farming

2016 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Njuki ◽  
Boris E. Bravo-Ureta ◽  
Deep Mukherjee
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Performance ◽  
Pollution Index ◽  
Dairy Farming ◽  
Joint Production ◽  
Farm Size ◽  
Random Errors ◽  
Emission Component ◽  
Sources Of Pollution ◽  
Directional Output Distance Function ◽  
Size Heterogeneity

This study evaluates the environmental performance of northeastern U.S. dairy operations that differ in size using a directional output-distance function that measures the joint production of milk and emissions while incorporating a four-way error approach that captures farm-size heterogeneity, transient and persistent technical efficiency, and random errors. For the emission component, a comprehensive pollution index is generated that incorporates three major sources of pollution in dairy farming: fuel, fertilizer, and livestock. Computed shadow prices and Morishima elasticities of substitution reveal that large dairy operations are environmentally inefficient compared to their smaller counterparts.

Government Policies and Rural Entrepreneurship- Case Study of an Horticulture Entrepreneur

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vinod N. Sambrani
Keyword(s):  
Rural Development ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Process Development ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Rural Entrepreneurship ◽  
Development Institutions ◽  
Startup Time ◽  
Nursery Management ◽  
The Government

India is a country which is in forefront of being called a developed nation. To be a developed nation, India has to first look at its rural development, because 70 percent of the population live in rural areas, which means more than 700 million people are spread across 6,27,000 villages. Rural development is more than ever before linked to entrepreneurship. Establishments and agencies promoting rural development now look at entrepreneurship as a strategic development medium that could speed up the rural development process. Development institutions believe that rural entrepreneurship offers a huge potential for employment. In this paper a case study of a young entrepreneur who has taken up horticulture (vegetable plants nursery) as his full time profession, with a mission to help the neighbouring farmers is studied, the purpose of this paper is to understand the government role (policies and schemes), the difficulties faced by the entrepreneur during the startup time and knowledge transfer from the horticulture department, nursery management. The methodology followed is in-depth interaction with the entrepreneur. The outcome of paper will be to understand how rural entrepreneurship is helping improve the quality of life for families, communities and individuals leading to sustainable economy and environment.

scholarly journals Modelling Sustainable Industrial Symbiosis

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 1172
Author(s):  
Hafiz Haq ◽  
Petri Välisuo ◽  
Seppo Niemi
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Waste Management ◽  
Environmental Performance ◽  
Life Cycle Cost ◽  
Economic Assessment ◽  
Environmental Benefits ◽  
Industrial Symbiosis ◽  
Comprehensive Model ◽  
Network Connections

Industrial symbiosis networks conventionally provide economic and environmental benefits to participating industries. However, most studies have failed to quantify waste management solutions and identify network connections in addition to methodological variation of assessments. This study provides a comprehensive model to conduct sustainable study of industrial symbiosis, which includes identification of network connections, life cycle assessment of materials, economic assessment, and environmental performance using standard guidelines from the literature. Additionally, a case study of industrial symbiosis network from Sodankylä region of Finland is implemented. Results projected an estimated life cycle cost of €115.20 million. The symbiotic environment would save €6.42 million in waste management cost to the business participants in addition to the projected environmental impact of 0.95 million tonne of CO2, 339.80 tonne of CH4, and 18.20 tonne of N2O. The potential of further cost saving with presented optimal assessment in the current architecture is forecast at €0.63 million every year.

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