Agriculture, especially livestock farming, is a major driver of climate change through its contribution to the total emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs).
The dairy sector has been identified as an important source of GHG emissions, mainly via carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide. In a dairy farm located in Romania, total carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) emissions were assessed using the Cool Farm Tool calculator (CFT). Results showed annual GHG emissions of 553,170 kg CO2e, almost half of which were released through enteric fermentation. Lactating cows were the major contributor to total GHG emissions, while heifers released the lowest emissions.
The two scenarios simulated in this study showed that both the changes made in dairy diet composition and livestock manure management could result in lower GHG emissions. These results confirm the importance and utility of the CFT for the quantification of GHG emissions in dairy farms and its important role as a decision support tool to guide the adoption of good agricultural practices (see page 323).
© by the authors; licensee Journal of Applied Life Sciences and Environment, Iasi, Romania. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)
