Beef systems of varying intensity and land use have different rankings in terms of carbon and food output metrics.

RICCI, P.; WILSON, R.; HYSLOP, J.; JOHNSON, S.; REES, R.; WATERHOUSE, A.

Edimburgo

Conferencia; Sustainable intensification: the pathway to low carbon farming?; 2013

Scottish Rural College

There is considerable debate about the challenges of producing food and reducing net carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in ruminant livestock systems. Land has the potential for the production of livestock products, for livestock feed, for food for direct human consumption or for alternative non-food products. These various uses all provide different opportunities for further ecosystem services provision and biodiversity. Within UK farming situations, land is not uniform in terms of capability and potential uses. Farmers make choices of use according to land type and further integrate use across land types within the farm. This paper investigates the relationships between choices in the use of the land of different types and choices of intensity of management, a series of simulated upland beef and cereal farming systems were used to model agricultural inputs/outputs and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.