Dr. Frank M. Mitloehner - How Beef & Dairy Will Deal with the Precautionary Principle?

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How Beef & Dairy Will Deal with the Precautionary Principle? - Frank M. Mitloehner, PhD, Professor and Air Quality Extension Specialist, Department of Animal Science, University of California Davis, from the 2014 NIAA Annual Conference titled 'The Precautionary Principle: How Agriculture Will Thrive', March 31 - April 2, 2014, Omaha, NE, USA. More presentations at http://www.trufflemedia.com/agmedia/conference/2014_niaa_how_animal_agriculture_will_thrive

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How shall Beef and Dairy Deal with the Precautionary Principle regarding

Environmental Quality?NIAA, Omaha, NE, April 1, 2014

Frank Mitloehner, PhDProfessor & Air Quality CE SpecialistDept Animal ScienceUniversity of California, Davis

GHG & GWP

Global Warming Potential (GWP) of Main GHG

Carbon Dioxide, CO2 1

Methane, CH4 25

Nitrous Oxide, N2O 298

CO2 – Carbon Dioxide CH4 – Methane N2O – Nitrous Oxide

Carbon Dioxide and Carbon Flux

U.S. – the big GHG picture

Source: EPA (2009)

“Livestock’s Long Shadow” (FAO, 2006)

• “The Livestock sector is a major player, responsible for 18% of GHG emissions measured in CO2e. This is a higher share than transport”

16

10

020

030

040

050

0In

dex

num

ber:

1961

=10

0

1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

Roots and tubers CerealsMeat MilkEggs

Per caput consumption of major food items in developing countries – kg per caput per year (index numbers 1961=100)

Consumption is growing rapidly in

developing countries

Eggs

Meat

Milk

17

Per capita GDP and meat consumption by country, 2005.

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

0 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000

Per capita GDP (US$ PPP)

Per

cap

ita

mea

t co

nsu

mp

ion

(kg

/yea

r)

USA

Japan

China

Brazil

Malaysia

Germany

Ghana

NorwayLithuania

... driven by incomes ...

Global livestock distribution

FAO (2006)

Distribution of cropland

FAO (2006)

Mt

CO

2-eq

Time (years)

GHG by Regions

Production efficiency and pollution is inversely related

0.00

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0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000 7,000 8,000 9,000

Output per cow, kg FPCM per year

kg C

O2-

eq. p

er k

g FP

CM

More Milk Produced per Cow – Less Methane & Waste

California Cow Mexican Cow

20,000

lbs/yr/cow

500 g 2000 g Methane

Production

4,000 lbs/yr/cow

FAO (2010)

Emission Intensities (direct emissions from livestock)

GTAP 2001 data base

Mitigation: interventions to improve productivity

Gill et al. (2010)

US Dairy trends

• Today, there are 9 million dairy cows in the US, 16 million fewer than existed in 1950.

• Even though cow number have decreased dramatically (1950 versus 2013), milk production nationally has increased 60 percent.

• The carbon footprint of a glass of milk is 2/3 smaller today than it was 70 years ago.

China Swine Example

• China’s five year plan focuses on making farms larger and more efficient

• Half of the world’s pigs live in China• 50 million sows w/ 20 piglets born alive• Equals annual production of 1 Billion pigs• Pre-weaning mortality causes 400 Million

pigs to never make it to the market• One more pig per sow would mean

1 Million tons of feed saved

Sustainable Intensification is key!

• Production intensity enhances biological efficiency

• Production intensity and emission intensity are inversely related

Partnership on Livestock Environmental Assessment &

Performance (LEAP)

• Globally harmonized methodology for environmental footprints

• LEAP = national governments, livestock industry, non-governmental and civil society organizations, leading researchers

Frank Mitloehner, PhDAir Quality CE SpecialistAnimal Science Department University of California, Davis(530) 752-3936fmmitloehner@ucdavis.edu

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