Assessing environmental consequences of using co-products in animal feed

The livestock sector has a major impact on the environment. This environmental impact may be reduced by feeding agricultural co-products (e.g. beet tails) to livestock, as this transforms inedible products for humans into edible products, e.g. pork or beef. Nevertheless, co-products have different applications such as bioenergy production. Based on a framework we developed, we assessed environmental consequences of using co-products in diets of livestock, including the alternative application of that co-product. We performed a consequential life cycle assessment, regarding greenhouse gas emissions (including emissions related to land use change) and land use, for two case studies. Case 1 includes increasing the use of wheat middlings in diets of dairy cattle at the expense of using it in diets of pigs. The decreased use of wheat middlings in diets of pigs was substituted with barley, the marginal product. Case 2 includes increasing the use of beet tails in diets of dairy cattle at the expense of using it to produce bioenergy. During the production of biogas, electricity, heat and digestate (that is used as organic fertilizer) were produced. The decrease of electricity and heat was substituted with fossil fuel, and digestate was substituted with artificial fertilizer. Using wheat middlings in diets of dairy cattle instead of using it in diets of pigs resulted in a reduction of 329 kg CO2 eq per ton wheat middlings and a decrease of 169 m(2) land. Using beet tails in diets of dairy cattle instead of using it as a substrate for anaerobic digestion resulted in a decrease of 239 kg CO2 eq per ton beet tails and a decrease of 154 m(2) land. Emissions regarding land use change contributed significantly in both cases but had a high uncertainty factor, +/- 170 ton CO2 ha(-1). Excluding emissions from land use change resulted in a decrease of 9 kg CO2 eq for case 1 'wheat middlings' and an increase of 50 kg CO2 eq for case 2 'beet tails'. Assessing the use of co-products in the livestock sector is of importance because shifting its application can reduce the environmental impact of the livestock sector. A correct assessment of the environmental consequences of using co-products in animal feed should also include potential changes in impacts outside the livestock sector, such as the impact in the bioenergy sector.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	van Zanten, H.H.E., Mollenhorst, H., de Vries, J.W., van Middelaar, C.E., van Kernebeek, H.R.J., de Boer, I.J.M.
Format:	Article/Letter to editor biblioteca
Language:	English
Subjects:	absorption, bio-energy, digestion, impact, manure, model, perspective, rumen, tract,
Online Access:	https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/assessing-environmental-consequences-of-using-co-products-in-anim
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!