Knowledge Agora



Scientific Article details

Title Improvements to dairy farms for environmental sustainability in Grana Padano and Parmigiano Reggiano production systems
ID_Doc 17642
Authors Lovarelli, D; Bava, L; Zucali, M; D'Imporzano, G; Adani, F; Tamburini, A; Sandrucci, A
Title Improvements to dairy farms for environmental sustainability in Grana Padano and Parmigiano Reggiano production systems
Year 2019
Published Italian Journal Of Animal Science, 18, 1
DOI 10.1080/1828051X.2019.1611389
Abstract Grana Padano (GP) and Parmigiano Reggiano (PR) are the two most important Italian PDO cheeses. To improve the environmental sustainability of their production, a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was completed on 84 dairy farms located in the province of Mantova (Northern Italy). In particular, 33 farms delivered milk for GP production, whereas 51 farms to dairies for PR production. In GP farms, maize silage represented 33.7% of total farmland and alfalfa represented 28.1%. While in PR farms, alfalfa represented 63.6% of total farmland. Fat and Protein Corrected Milk (FPCM) and Dairy Efficiency (DE, calculated as kg of produced FPCM per kg of DM intake) were different in the two production system: FPCM was 30.2 +/- 4.32 kg/d in GP farms and 25.0 +/- 4.71 kg/d in PR farms; DE was 1.35 +/- 0.26 in GP farms, and 1.15 +/- 0.22 in PR farms. Mitigation strategies to improve both environmental and economic sustainability were suggested focussing on forage crop production, milk production, herd management and off-farm purchased feed. From the preliminary results, there is evidence that improvements are needed. Climate Change (kg CO2 eq/kg FPCM) and Land Use (kg Carbon deficit/kg FPCM) were similar (1.38 +/- 0.33 and 19.3 +/- 7.08 for GP system; 1.46 +/- 0.37 and 21.8 +/- 11.4 for PR system). The most efficient farms in terms of milk production and DE generally showed the best environmental and economic sustainability, while the others show worse outcomes, mainly due to poor DE, livestock-management issues, feed purchase and ration composition.
Author Keywords Grana Padano; Parmigiano Reggiano; dairy efficiency; environmental sustainability; Life Cycle Assessment
Index Keywords Index Keywords
Document Type Other
Open Access Open Access
Source Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED)
EID WOS:000468982600001
WoS Category Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science; Agriculture, Multidisciplinary; Veterinary Sciences
Research Area Agriculture; Veterinary Sciences
PDF https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/1828051X.2019.1611389?needAccess=true
Similar atricles
Scroll