Sustainability of agro-livestock integration: Implications and results of Emergy evaluation

Assessing the energy trap of industrial agriculture in North America and Europe: 82 balances from 1830 to 2012

Early energy analyses of agriculture revealed that behind higher labor and land productivity of industrial farming, there was a decrease in energy returns on energy (EROI) invested, in comparison to more traditional organic agricultural systems. Studies on recent trends show that efficiency gains in production and use of inputs have again somewhat improved energy returns. However, most of these agricultural energy studies have focused only on external inputs at the crop level, concealing the important role of internal biomass flows that livestock and forestry recirculate within agroecosystems. Here, we synthesize the results of 82 farm systems in North America and Europe from 1830 to 2012 that for the first time show the changing energy profiles of agroecosystems, including livestock and forestry, with a multi-EROI approach that accounts for the energy returns on external inputs, on internal biomass reuses, and on all inputs invested. With this historical circular bioeconomic approach, we found a general trend towards much lower external returns, little or no increases in internal returns, and almost no improvement in total returns. This "energy trap" was driven by shifts towards a growing dependence of crop production on fossil-fueled external inputs, much more intensive livestock production based on feed grains, less forestry, and a structural disintegration of agroecosystem components by increasingly linear industrial farm managements. We conclude that overcoming the energy trap requires nature-based solutions to reduce current dependence on fossil-fueled external industrial inputs and increase the circularity and complexity of agroecosystems to provide healthier diets with less animal products.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13593-023-00925-5.

Dependence on the socio-economic system impairs the sustainability of pasture-based animal agriculture

Livestock systems contribution to environmental change is controversial. Pasture-based systems are considered a sustainable alternative due to their adaptation to the use of local natural resources. However, they have limited productivity per product unit and, in Europe, depend on public economic support. Furthermore, they are heterogeneous in farm structure and resources use, which may determine their sustainability. We use emergy accounting to assess the sustainability of mountain pasture-based cattle systems and analyse the variability among farms. Emergy accounting assesses the sustainability performance of complex systems (i.e., farming systems) and their interaction with other systems (i.e., the environment and the socio-economic system) focusing on the origin, quality and quantity of the energy required for the system to function. Results show that pasture-based systems largely use local natural renewable resources but depend largely on the wider socio-economic system given their reliance on public economic support and purchased animal feeds. This economic dependence turns out in most farms largely using non-renewable resources. Increasing self-produced feeds and grazing on natural pastures can reduce the dependence on the socio-economic system and improve farm sustainability.

Emergy synthesis of decoupling and recoupling crop-livestock systems under unified system boundary and modified indices

Sustainability assessment of integrated crop-livestock system was crucial for regulating and improving the complex agricultural system. Emergy synthesis (ES) is a suitable tool to assess the sustainability of integrated crop-livestock systems. However, the inconsistent system boundaries and limited assessment indicators caused to subjective and misleading results when comparing the recoupling and decoupling croplivestock models. Therefore, this study defined the rational system boundary of emergy accounting for the comparison of recoupling and decoupling crop-livestock complex systems. Meanwhile, the study designed an emergy-based indices system based on "3R" principles of circular economy. An integrated crop-livestock system including sweet maize cultivation and cow dairy farm in South China was selected as the case to compare sustainability of recoupling and decoupling models under the unified system boundary and modified indices. Results showed that the new ES framework could provide more rational assessment results when comparing the recoupling and decoupling crop-livestock systems. In addition, this study illustrated, through scenario simulation, that the recoupling maize-cow model could be further optimized by regulating the material flow between subsystems and adjusting the system structure. This study would promote the application of ES method in the field of agricultural circular economy.

Validation of a behavior observation form for geese reared in agroforestry systems

Agroforestry systems, which are based on the integration of trees and animals, represent a useful practice for implementing the "One Welfare" concept. Geese could adapt well to these systems due to their kinetic and grazing abilities. However, the lack of specific ethograms and animal-based measures have not yet allowed a deep assessment of their welfare and behavior. The aim of this study was to develop and validate a protocol to evaluate the behavior of geese reared in two agroforestry systems (i.e., apple orchard and vineyard). Thus, a behavior observation form (BOF) including a specific ethogram was proposed, and its interobserver reliability, content, criterion and construct validity were determined. Moreover, the influence of the time of day and type of agroforestry system on geese's behavior was also investigated. Agreement and principal component analyses, as well as the comparison between data collected through direct observation by the BOF and indirect observation by a computerized system, supported the reliability and validity of the proposed protocol. While the BOF also highlighted differences in the behavior expressed by the geese according to the time of day and the environmental context, both the vineyard and apple orchard systems seem to meet their biological and behavioral needs.

The environmental cost of broiler production and carbon sequestration potential of eucalyptus plantations around farms in Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil

The present study aimed to evaluate the environmental cost of the production process of broilers from the approach of emergy accounting and carbon sequestration potential for broiler farms. The study assessed a standard farm of the conventional system containing ten houses in 19 ha. We evaluated the following indices solar transformity (Tr), renewability (%R), emergy yield ratio (EYR), emergy investment ratio (EIR), environmental loading ratio (ELR), emergy sustainability index (ESI), and emergy exchange ratio (EER) and carbon sequestration potential of eucalyptus plantation. The total emergy input was 2.79E-06 seJ ha^-1 y^-1 for the broiler growth process. The highest investment in the production process was related to materials, which came from feeding and electricity. The renewability index indicated the low sustainability of the system with increased consumption of economical materials and equipment, with a low proportion of the emergy use of renewable resources. High investment in broilers production in the conventional system generates an environmental loading ratio that indicates high environmental degradation. Planting trees in the surrounding areas of the farm facilities can minimize the externalities of the production system with the plantation carbon sequestration potential.

Sustainability Assessment of Family Agricultural Properties: The Importance of Homeopathy

Family farming is a lifestyle and agricultural base that has ensured food for the world’s growing population in addition to the family’s own subsistence. However, the intensification of production processes to primarily generate exportable surpluses is based on the constant input of industrial inputs of low local socioeconomic viability. This study aims to evaluate the sustainability of family farms and their impact on the adoption of homeopathy instead of traditional/conventional intensification techniques. The study was conducted at six family farms located in the Serrana Mesoregion, Santa Catarina, Brazil, and include farms were classified according to the management and representativeness of their agricultural activity, i.e., conventional grains-cattle, milk-grains, grains and diversified, and according to their ecological basis, i.e., agroecological and organic. To discuss the sustainability of the family farms that were evaluated, the of metrics emergy synthesis, ecotoxicity potential and socioeconomic indicators are used. The results indicate that conventional diversified property has the best overall performance with regard to sustainability, including emergy yield ratio (EYR 1.88), emergy investment ratio (EIR 1.13), return on assets (1.22), hourly income of work (36.6 BRL/h) and income sufficiency (3.3). Agroecological and organic properties have better performance in renewability (76% and 75%), environmental load (ELR = 0.32 and 0.34), sustainability (ESI = 4.78 and 3.5) and potential ecotoxicity (1.736 and 1.579 kg 1.4 DCB-eq/ha). The contribution of homeopathy in an alternative scenario results in a 19% reduction in nonrenewable flows in conventional management properties and a decrease of up to 91% in ecotoxicity in grain + cattle properties. Using homeopathy, the return on assets and profit margin can be increased by up to 43% and income per hour of work and income sufficiency can be increased by 20% and 16%, respectively. This study contributes to discussions about the importance of using homeopathic therapies as a viable strategy that can be used in strategic public policy plans to improve the sustainability of family farms.

Sustainability Evaluation and Optimization on the Modern Agro-Pastoral Circular System Integrating Emergy Analysis and Life Cycle Assessment

Developing modern circular agriculture is one of the important ways to promote agricultural sustainable development, facilitating the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the United Nations. However, when agricultural production operators constructed particular systems, they often lacked accurate data support and parameter matching. Consequently, problems such as unknown input and output, low circulation efficiency, and lack of comprehensive evaluation occurred, increasing challenges for efficient circulation of the systems. Therefore, based on sufficient data collection and field investigation, this research integrated emergy analysis and life cycle assessment to conduct sustainability evaluation on the modern Straw–Sheep–Cropland agro-pastoral circular system. Then the system was optimized by means of coupling parameter adjustment and key technology regulation. The results showed that the whole system required lower total emergy input after optimization. And the total weighted value of potential environmental impacts of the optimized system was 47.12% of that of the original system. Meanwhile, annual environmental service emergy in air, water, and soil was reduced significantly compared with the original one. In general, the optimized system had good performance in reduction, reuse, and controllability, so its sustainability was also high. This research formed a systematic method suitable for evaluating and optimizing the modern agro-pastoral circular system, which provided accurate guidance for the scientific construction and sustainable development of circular agriculture systems.

Controlling Non-Grain Production Based on Cultivated Land Multifunction Assessment

The control of non-grain production (NGP) has become a great challenge for cultivated land protection in China in recent years. A control method for NGP that can coordinate the conflicts between cultivated land protection and farmers’ interest is urgently needed. Taking Tongxiang City as an example, this research proposed a solution for the control and management of NGP based on cultivated land multifunctional assessment. The GIS and AHP approach were used to assess production function via a comprehensive evaluation index. The InVEST and FMSPA models were applied to assess ecological function while, the Maxent model was applied to assess recreational function, then multifunctional comprehensive zoning was conducted through natural breakpoint method and spatial overlay analysis. Five development-oriented function zones were considered, including the core area of grain production plus areas for ecological agriculture, leisure agriculture, compound agriculture, and general farmland. Differentiated control measures for NGPs in each functional subarea are proposed considering the current NGP distribution of Tongxiang city. This research can provide a reference for subsequent improvement of land management policies and can aid the achievement of sustainable agricultural development and rural revitalization.

Sustainability of Rearing System Using Multicriteria Analysis: Application in Commercial Poultry Production

The aim of the present study was to develop a multicriteria model for the comparison of three commercial poultry farms: organic with Ross 308 genotype (OR), organic with Naked Neck genotype (ONN) and a conventional system (C), which represents the most common commercial farming system. A model based on multicriteria decision analysis was developed, considering for the first time the One Welfare approach in an operational manner, including three dimensions: human, environmental and animal welfare. The three alternatives demonstrated different performances, according to the different dimensions considered. In particular, the two organic systems performed better for human welfare and animal welfare, with relevant differences due to the genetic strains used. Conventional rearing performed better for the environment index due to the method chosen. The multicriteria analysis showed that the organic system performed better overall than the conventional system. In particular, the use of an adapted Slow Growing (SG) strain positively affected the final rank, mainly by reducing welfare problems and producing good economic and social performance. The stability of the results was verified by performing a sensitivity analysis, specifically a weight stability analysis, which confirmed the strength of results.

Agricultural Waste Recycling Optimization of Family Farms Based on Environmental Management Accounting in Rural China

In the process of production and operation of family farms, a large amount of agricultural waste, such as livestock and poultry manure, has not been effectively treated in time, causing serious pollution to the environment. Moreover, livestock and poultry manure are the kind of resources that can be recycled to fertilize crops, which can benefit family farms both economically and environmentally. Adoption of manure biogas digesters by family farms can improve sustainability by not only decreasing input use and resource losses, but also reducing environmental pollution. Additionally, Material Flow Cost Accounting (MFCA) is considered to be the most representative environmental management accounting tool. MFCA can be expanded to account for and calculate environmental damages, so as to better reflect the economic and environmental sustainability of agricultural systems. According to the basic principles of material flow cost accounting and characteristics of family farms, we propose an agricultural-waste-recycling model for Chinese family farms that is based on the extended MFCA in this paper. We first investigate Chinese family farms in Hunan Province, and then optimize an agricultural-waste-recycling model by extended MFCA. Finally, based on our proposed model, we make a two-dimensional analysis on the internal resource cost and external environment damages for agricultural-waste recycling. Our analysis shows that visualization of monetization of resource losses can optimize manure recycling through better decision-making, which can increase the sustainability of family farms.

Extensive Rearing Systems in Poultry Production: The Right Chicken for the Right Farming System. A Review of Twenty Years of Scientific Research in Perugia University, Italy

Simple Summary

The aim of this review paper was to retrace the research journey of the researchers of the Department of Agricultural, Food, and Environmental Science at the University of Perugia, Italy that lasted twenty years and draw updated guidelines regarding the best synergy between chicken type and environment in extensive rearing systems in order to optimize animal welfare, quality, and environmental impact, linked with economical sustainability.

Abstract

The demand for poultry meat, being cheaper than red meat, will drive worldwide production of this product. Accordingly, an increase in production up to 16% is expected in 2025, most of which will occur in developing countries. Most poultry meat production is realized with intensive production systems, and extensive rearing systems (ERS) of poultry (organic, free-range, and low-input) represent only a small portion of poultry production in the EU (about 5%). However, there is an increasing interest in such rearing systems to maintain the good image of product and environmental sustainability, improved animal welfare, and meat quality with an annual trend of growth of about 10%. The aims of this work were to summarize the activities and the viewpoint of the researchers of the Department of Agricultural, Food, and Environmental Science of the University of Perugia (Italy). One of the most important goals of the research unit was the challenge of identifying the best poultry genotypes for ERS, which are important not only for the food industry but also for the improvement of human nutrition. Only the definition of the best genotypes adapted to ERS through the measurement of a wide panel of traits—genetic, physiologic, and behavior—and not only relying on daily weight gain will allow us to achieve this goal.

Integrating or Des-integrating agribusiness systems: Outcomes of emergy evaluation

The agribusiness contributes significantly to the Brazilian domestic production, and the search for environmentally friendly systems, exploring the maximum possible use of renewable resources and reducing the use of non-renewable ones, affects the agribusiness' productivity and competitivity. An agribusiness producing corn, eggs, pork and milk was evaluated using emergy accounting. The effects of the (des)integration of the production processes on the efficiency and environmental sustainability of the system were assessed using seven scenarios. The first is the existing integrated system and the others are scenarios in which one of the productive subsystems is removed. Efficiency is measured by the global productivity relative to the amount of protein produced. The most environmentally advantageous scenario, in terms of sustainability and productivity, is the one in which pork production is increased and egg production is ceased. This result suggests that increasing integration per se cannot assure gains in environmental sustainability. The integrated management of the residues of the poultry and pig production as organic fertilizer resulted an advantage for the seven scenarios. The scenarios presented should help to evaluate organizational innovations and to identify trade-offs that could influence the environmental performance of agricultural integrated systems.

Geese Reared in Vineyard: Soil, Grass and Animals Interaction

Simple Summary

Agroforestry is a practice, which consists of having orchard, crops and animals in the same land. This system shows many sustainability advantages like reductions of land use, permitting to obtain two productions (vegetal and animal) in the same area. Moreover, if the animals are well managed, they exert a double action by fertilizing and weeding the soil. The agroforestry system here studied consists of an organic vineyard where geese at two densities (High Geese Density-HGD and Low Geese Density-LGD) were reared. In the organic vineyard, only Copper (Cu) treatment is allowed, like antifungal. The aim was to investigate the chemical and biochemical properties of the soil with geese and the impact of Cu on the soil and animal tissues. The main results showed that the presence of animals improves the efficiency of the microbial biomass mainly in the upper soil horizons. Moreover, the grazing activity of geese removes Cu from the soil with the grass intake and showed a moderate accumulation in the liver. However, no significant difference was present in the edible tissues (breast and drumstick) of the vineyard geese in respect to the control ones.

Abstract

Agroforestry systems aim at increasing the productivity and the environmental sustainability of both crop and animal productions. The integration of small animals such as geese in the vineyard could represent an opportunity to improve farm income and reduce land use for grazing. The main objective of this work was to study the impact of geese rearing in an organic vineyard on the chemical and biochemical properties of the soil and the effect of Copper (Cu) supplied with the fungicide treatments. Furthermore, the amount of Cu in the animal tissues was also investigated. Three experimental areas within the vineyard were selected: High Geese Density (HGD-240 geese ha⁻¹), Low Geese Density (LGD-120 geese ha⁻¹) and Without Geese used as control soil (WG). The results indicated that both HGD and LGD did not affect the main chemical properties of the vineyard soils. LGD increased the amount and the efficiency of the microbial biomass in the upper soil horizons. Moreover, geese through the grazing activity reduced the Cu content in the vineyard soils, accumulating this element in their liver. However, the content of Cu in the breast and drumstick of vineyard geese did not show any significant difference in respect the meat of the control ones.

Emergy and Economic Evaluation of Seven Typical Agroforestry Planting Patterns in the Karst Region of Southwest China

As a vast degraded land ecosystem, the karst region of southwest China is currently experiencing serious conflicts between restoration of degraded vegetation communities and agricultural activities. Furthermore, it is not clear what land use pattern suits local farmers best. To evaluate the sustainability of the degraded agricultural ecosystems in the region, methods for emergy analysis were used to compare the ecological and economic benefits from seven typical agroforestry planting patterns in the Yunnan province. The eco-efficiencies of the apple pattern (AP), pear pattern (PP), pomegranate pattern (PRP) were all lower than that of the traditional corn pattern (CP), although the economic benefit was higher than that of CP. Ecological benefits of the apple-soybean pattern (ASP) and the pear-pumpkin pattern (PPP) were not significantly improved, while ecological and economic benefits of the pomegranate-grass-sheep pattern (PGSP) was improved significantly. Intercropping pumpkin in PP increased the economic efficiency by 28.3%, which was superior to that of the intercropping of soybeans (4.6%) in AP. These data implied that interplanting crops in AP and PP might result in higher economic benefit than the existing interplanting pattern. The multistory agroforestry planting pattern and raising in PGSP could optimize the relationship among tree-grass-sheep and improve ecological and economic benefits. Additionally, scenario analysis showed that local farmers might enjoy better ecological and economic benefits at a large scale by optimizing current agricultural production patterns. Our results suggest that together, both the local government and farmers can adjust the structure of agroforestry ecosystems to foster the sustainable development of the ecological industry in the karst region of China.