Mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions from beef production in western Canada – evaluation using farm-based life cycle assessment
Abstract
Numerous mitigation strategies are proposed to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from ruminants, with many aimed at reducing enteric CH₄. Before implementing such practices, it is critical to evaluate their net impact on total farm GHG emissions. Thus, a life cycle assessment (LCA) was conducted using HOLOS (i.e., a whole farm model based on Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change methodology modified for Canadian conditions that considers all significant CH₄, N₂O and CO₂ emissions from the farm) to establish whole farm GHG emission intensity for beef production in western Canada (i.e., baseline scenario) as affected by various mitigation practices. Mitigation practices were applied to the baseline scenario and their impacts on the intensity of GHG emissions assessed. Mitigation practices included dietary modifications aimed at reducing CH₄ emissions (i.e., changed forage use levels, dietary supplementation with polyunsaturated lipids, use of corn distillers dried grains, improved forage quality) and improved animal husbandry (i.e., increased longevity of breeding stock, improved reproductive performance of the herd). The simulated farm was a beef production operation comprised of 120 cows, 4 bulls, and their progeny, with the progeny fattened in a feedlot. The farm also included cropland and native prairie pasture for grazing to supply the feed required by the herd. The LCA was conducted over 8 years to fully account for lifetime GHG emissions from breeding stock, as w…
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We demonstrated this based on measurements of soil C and cattle productivity at the Lake City AgBioResearch Center from 2012 to 2016, which indicates a sink during the finishing phase of -6.65 kg CO2-e kg CW-1 which is similar to the results of Beauchemin et al. (2011).
“We demonstrated this based on measurements of soil C and cattle productivity at the Lake City AgBioResearch Center from 2012 to 2016, which indicates a sink during the finishing phase of -6.65 kg CO 2 -e kg CW -1 which is similar to the results of Beauchemin et al. (2011).”
From Impacts of soil carbon sequestration on life cycle greenhouse gas emissions in Midwestern USA beef finishing systems (2018) · cites this paper as Beauchemin et al. (2011)
Livestock-induced soil C changes can have large impacts on the GHG balance of production systems.
“Recent studies show that livestock-induced soil C changes can have large impacts on the GHG balance of these production systems (Beauchemin et al., 2011;Teague et al., 2016;Stanley et al., 2018).”
From Ecosystem Impacts and Productive Capacity of a Multi-Species Pastured Livestock System (2020) · cites this paper as Beauchemin et al., 2011
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Comparing environmental impacts of beef production systems: a review of life cycle assessments
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Ecosystem Impacts and Productive Capacity of a Multi-Species Pastured Livestock System
Rowntree, J. E., Stanley, P. L., Maciel, I. C. F., Thorbecke, M., Rosenzweig, S. T., Hancock, D. W., Guzman, A., & Raven, M. R. (2020) · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · doi:10.3389/fsufs.2020.544984 · Cited by 110 · see citing works
“Recent studies show that livestock-induced soil C changes can have large impacts on the GHG balance of these production systems (Beauchemin et al., 2011; Teague et al., 2016; Stanley et al., 2018).”
BackgroundStewart, E. K., Beauchemin, K. A., Dai, X., MacAdam, J. W., Christensen, R. G., & Villalba, J. J. (2019) · Journal of Animal Science · doi:10.1093/jas/skz206 · Cited by 78 · see citing works
Self-citationBerton, M., Agabriel, J., Gallo, L., Lherm, M., Ramanzin, M., & Sturaro, E. (2017) · Agricultural Systems · doi:10.1016/j.agsy.2017.04.005 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
- Authors
- Beauchemin, K. A., Janzen, H. H., Little, S. M., McAllister, T. A., & McGinn, S. M.
- Affiliations
- Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Beauchemin, K.A.
- Venue
- Animal Feed Science and Technology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2011-06
- Volume
- 166-167
- Pages
- 663-677
- ISSN
- 0377-8401 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2106846184
- Cited by
- 167
- References
- 7
- Citations by year
- 2026: 9 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 9 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 16 · 2015: 12 · 2014: 11 · 2013: 8 · 2012: 14
- FWCI
- 9.32
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Animal Feed Science and Technology (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Agriculture Sustainability and Environmental Impact
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Agronomy and Crop Science › Ruminant Nutrition and Digestive Physiology
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Chemistry › Sustainable Agricultural Systems Analysis
- Keywords
- greenhouse gas emissions reduction, beef production, enteric methane, ruminant methane emissions, emission intensity, dietary supplementation, polyunsaturated fatty acids, forage quality, feedlot, cow-calf systems, reproductive performance, nitrous oxide, Western Canada, climate change mitigation strategies
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