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Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was applied to two smallholder milk production systems in Peru in order to evaluate the environmental burden of milk produced in each. An Andean highland milk production system where livestock feeding is restricted to permanent pastures supplemented with on farm grown ryegrass-clover was opposed to a coastal system with dairy cows fed a diet consisting of fodder maize and purchased concentrate. Milk production levels (kg/cow day) differed considerably with 2.57 for the highland and 19.54 for the coastal system. A Life Cycle Inventory was calculated for the functional unit of 1 kg energy corrected milk (ECM) and the environmental impacts global warming, acidification and eutrophication were estimated for 1 kg ECM, 1 ha and 1 animal, considering the multi-functionality of the system. The highland system was characterized by a high land use (23.1 m2a/kg ECM vs. 1.71 m2a/kg ECM at the coast). Irrigation water and energy were on the other hand used to a much higher amount at the coast (7291 l/kg ECM and 8791 MJ/kg ECM, respectively) than in the highlands (848 l/kg ECM and 0.20 MJ/kg ECM). Global warming potential, acidification and eutrophication were higher for 1 kg ECM produced in the highlands than at the coast by 10.6 kg CO2 equivalents, 6.58 g sulfur dioxide equivalents and 10.63 g phosphate equivalents, respectively. Results: Whereas livestock is mainly responsible for impacts on the environment in the highlands, at the coast both livestock related emissions and forage cultivation play an important role. Furthermore CO2 releases from soybean cultivations heavily contribute to total emissions. Strategies in order to reduce the environmental burden of milk production should focus on an increase of production levels and a reduction of methane emissions from enteric fermentation in the highlands and a modification of the concentrate components replacing soya as the protein source at the coast.
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Milk production is an important source of income for Peruvian smallholder farmers in the Andes and is characterised by high altitude, scarcity of good quality forages during dry season and the low productivity of the local Criollo cattle (a Peruvian cow type adapted to altitude and harsh environments). All these factors are also associated with low milk production levels. The results of this project show that an improvement of the availability and quality of forages for dry season feeding of ruminant livestock is possible by means of introducing new forages or management practices, and that these improvements may increase the income of smallholder highland farmers. An improved nutrition can also increase the share of favourable fatty acids in milk fat. Furthermore, the environmental conditions on these farms, characterised by very high altitudes, do not negatively affect performance and metabolism of dairy cattle but do alter the fatty acid profile of milk fat. The local Criollo cows seem to have no clear advantage over Brown Swiss cows in terms of metabolic strategies to cope with under-nutrition and hypoxia and produce milk with a slightly less favourable fatty acid composition than the Brown Swiss cows.
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