Effect of feeding strategies and cropping systems on greenhouse gas emission from Wisconsin certified organic dairy farms

Summary

Organic agriculture continues to expand in the United States, both in total hectares and market share. However, management practices used by dairy organic producers, and their resulting environmental impacts, vary across farms. This study used a partial life cycle assessment approach to estimate the effect of different feeding strategies and associated crop production on greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from Wisconsin certified organic dairy farms. Field and livestock-driven emissions were calculated using 2 data sets. One was a 20-yr data set from the Wisconsin Integrated Cropping System Trial documenting management inputs, crop and pasture yields, and soil characteristics, used to estimate field-level emissions from land associated with feed production (row crop and pasture), including N(2)O and soil carbon sequestration. The other was a data set summarizing organic farm management in Wisconsin, which was used to estimate replacement heifer emission (CO(2) equivalents), enteric methane (CH(4)), and manure management (N(2)O and CH(4)). Three combinations of corn grain (CG) and soybean (SB) as concentrate (all corn = 100% CG; baseline = 75% CG + 25% SB; half corn = 50% CG + 50% SB) were assigned to each of 4 representative management strategies as determined by survey data. Overall, GHG emissions associated with crop production was 1,297 +/- 136 kg of CO(2) equivalents/t of ECM without accounting for soil carbon changes (DeltaSC), and GHG emission with DeltaSC was 1,457 +/- 111 kg of CO(2) equivalents/t of ECM, with greater reliance on pasture resulting in less DeltaSC. Higher levels of milk production were a major driver associated with reduction in GHG emission per metric tonne of ECM. Emissions per metric tonne of ECM increased with increasing proportion of SB in the ration; however, including SB in the crop rotation decreased N(2)O emission per metric tonne of ECM from cropland due to lower applications of organically approved N fertility inputs. More SB at the expense of CG in the ration reduced enteric CH(4) emission per metric tonne of ECM (because of greater dietary fat content) but increased N(2)O emission per metric tonne of ECM from manure (because of greater N content). An increased reliance on pasture for feed at the expense of grain resulted in decreased in milk production, subsequently leading to substantially higher emissions per metric tonne of ECM.