IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/agisys/v103y2010i1p41-50.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and economic performance assessments in French Charolais suckler cattle farms: Model-based analysis and forecasts

Author

Listed:
  • Veysset, P.
  • Lherm, M.
  • Bébin, D.

Abstract

The environmental and economic performance of five Charolais beef production systems (three specialized beef producer test cases in grassland areas and two mixed crop-livestock test cases with a more intensive production system) were assessed by coupling an economic optimization model ("Opt'INRA") with a model assessing non-renewable energy (NRE) consumption and greenhouse gas emissions ("PLANETE"). The test cases studied covered a relatively diverse range of raised and sold animals: calf-to-weanling or calf-to-beef systems (animals sold: from 10-month-old weaners to 36-month-old beef steers). In 2006, NRE consumption ranged from 26,440 to 31,863Â MJ/ton of live weight produced over 1 year. Fuels and lubricants were the main factors of NRE consumption, followed by fertilizers and farm equipment. Livestock was the main driver of global warming potential. GHG emissions, at 14.3-18.3Â tCO2eq/t LW, were mainly determined by the proportion of cows in the total herd livestock units, according to the farming system deployed, i.e. calf-to-weanling vs. calf-to-beef. Against a background of rising energy costs, farms running mixed crop-livestock systems enjoy greater flexibility to adjust their farming systems than grassland-based farms, enabling them to minimize the drop in income over the timeframe to 2012 (-3%). In this same setting, specialist beef producers face a 15-25% drop in income. In all the scenarios run, system adjustments designed to minimize the drop in income have only a very limited impact on NRE consumption and GHG emissions.

Suggested Citation

  • Veysset, P. & Lherm, M. & Bébin, D., 2010. "Energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and economic performance assessments in French Charolais suckler cattle farms: Model-based analysis and forecasts," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 103(1), pages 41-50, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:agisys:v:103:y:2010:i:1:p:41-50
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308-521X(09)00094-8
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. van Calker, K. J. & Berentsen, P. B. M. & de Boer, I. M. J. & Giesen, G. W. J. & Huirne, R. B. M., 2004. "An LP-model to analyse economic and ecological sustainability on Dutch dairy farms: model presentation and application for experimental farm "de Marke"," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 82(2), pages 139-160, November.
    2. Veysset, P. & Bebin, D. & Lherm, M., 2005. "Adaptation to Agenda 2000 (CAP reform) and optimisation of the farming system of French suckler cattle farms in the Charolais area: a model-based study," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 83(2), pages 179-202, February.
    3. Berntsen, J. & Petersen, B. M. & Jacobsen, B. H. & Olesen, J. E. & Hutchings, N. J., 2003. "Evaluating nitrogen taxation scenarios using the dynamic whole farm simulation model FASSET," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 76(3), pages 817-839, June.
    4. Matthews, K.B. & Wright, I.A. & Buchan, K. & Davies, D.A. & Schwarz, G., 2006. "Assessing the options for upland livestock systems under CAP reform: Developing and applying a livestock systems model within whole-farm systems analysis," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 90(1-3), pages 32-61, October.
    5. Petr Havlík & Patrick Veysset & Jean-Marie Boisson & Michel Lherm & Florence Jacquet, 2005. "Joint production under uncertainty and multifunctionality of agriculture: policy considerations and applied analysis," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 32(4), pages 489-515, December.
    6. Pervanchon, F. & Bockstaller, C. & Girardin, P., 2002. "Assessment of energy use in arable farming systems by means of an agro-ecological indicator: the energy indicator," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 72(2), pages 149-172, May.
    7. Pacini, Cesare & Giesen, Gerard & Wossink, Ada & Omodei-Zorini, Luigi & Huirne, Ruud, 2004. "The EU's Agenda 2000 reform and the sustainability of organic farming in Tuscany: ecological-economic modelling at field and farm level," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 80(2), pages 171-197, May.
    8. McCarl, Bruce A. & Apland, Jeffrey, 1986. "Validation Of Linear Programming Models," Southern Journal of Agricultural Economics, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 18(2), pages 1-10, December.
    9. Kamel Louhichi & Guillermo Flichman & Slim Zekri, 1999. "Un modèle bio-économique pour analyser l'impact de la politique de conservation des eaux et du sol. [Le cas d'une exploitation agricole tunisienne]," Économie rurale, Programme National Persée, vol. 252(1), pages 55-64.
    10. Casey, J.W. & Holden, N.M., 2006. "Quantification of GHG emissions from sucker-beef production in Ireland," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 90(1-3), pages 79-98, October.
    11. Janssen, Sander & van Ittersum, Martin K., 2007. "Assessing farm innovations and responses to policies: A review of bio-economic farm models," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 94(3), pages 622-636, June.
    12. Beukes, P. C. & Cowling, R. M. & Higgins, S. I., 2002. "An ecological economic simulation model of a non-selective grazing system in the Nama Karoo, South Africa," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(1-2), pages 221-242, August.
    13. Bonny, Sylvie, 1993. "Is agriculture using more and more energy? A French case study," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 51-66.
    14. Petr Havlík & Patrick Veysset & Jean-Marie Boisson & Michel M. Lherm & Florence F. Jacquet, 2005. "Joint production under uncertainty and multifunctionality of agriculture : policy considerations and applied analysis [[Production jointe sous incertitude et multifonctionnalité : considérations po," Post-Print hal-02680361, HAL.
    15. Crosson, P. & O'Kiely, P. & O'Mara, F.P. & Wallace, M., 2006. "The development of a mathematical model to investigate Irish beef production systems," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 89(2-3), pages 349-370, September.
    16. Berentsen, P. B. M. & Giesen, G. W. J., 1995. "An environmental-economic model at farm level to analyse institutional and technical change in dairy farming," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 49(2), pages 153-175.
    17. Kerselaers, Eva & De Cock, Lieve & Lauwers, Ludwig & Van Huylenbroeck, Guido, 2007. "Modelling farm-level economic potential for conversion to organic farming," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 94(3), pages 671-682, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Bonnin, Dennis & Tabacco, Ernesto & Borreani, Giorgio, 2021. "Variability of greenhouse gas emissions and economic performances on 10 Piedmontese beef farms in North Italy," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 194(C).
    2. Hyland, J.J. & Styles, D. & Jones, D.L. & Williams, A.P., 2016. "Improving livestock production efficiencies presents a major opportunity to reduce sectoral greenhouse gas emissions," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 123-131.
    3. Raymond L. Desjardins & Devon E. Worth & Xavier P. C. Vergé & Dominique Maxime & Jim Dyer & Darrel Cerkowniak, 2012. "Carbon Footprint of Beef Cattle," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 4(12), pages 1-23, December.
    4. Andrieu, Nadine & Descheemaeker, Katrien & Sanou, Thierry & Chia, Eduardo, 2015. "Effects of technical interventions on flexibility of farming systems in Burkina Faso: Lessons for the design of innovations in West Africa," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 125-137.
    5. Lyu Yun & Jing Li & Ruixing Hou & Zhigang Sun & Peifei Cong & Rubiao Liang & Sheng Hang & Huarui Gong & Zhu Ouyang, 2019. "Emergy-Based Sustainability Analysis of an Ecologically Integrated Model with Maize Planting for Silage and Pig-Raising in the North China Plain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(22), pages 1-17, November.
    6. Briner, Simon & Hartmann, Michael & Lehmann, Bernard, 2011. "Economic Assessment of Agroforestry Systems Compared to Other Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Options for Suckler Cow Farming," 2011 International Congress, August 30-September 2, 2011, Zurich, Switzerland 114271, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    7. María I. Nieto & Olivia Barrantes & Liliana Privitello & Ramón Reiné, 2018. "Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Beef Grazing Systems in Semi-Arid Rangelands of Central Argentina," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-22, November.
    8. Simon Briner & Michael Hartmann & Robert Finger & Bernard Lehmann, 2012. "Greenhouse gas mitigation and offset options for suckler cow farms: an economic comparison for the Swiss case," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 17(4), pages 337-355, April.
    9. Morel, Kevin & Farrié, Jean-Pierre & Renon, Julien & Manneville, Vincent & Agabriel, Jacques & Devun, Jean, 2016. "Environmental impacts of cow-calf beef systems with contrasted grassland management and animal production strategies in the Massif Central, France," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 133-143.
    10. White, Robin R. & Brady, Michael & Capper, Judith L. & Johnson, Kristen A., 2014. "Optimizing diet and pasture management to improve sustainability of U.S. beef production," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 1-12.
    11. Nasca, J.A. & Feldkamp, C.R. & Arroquy, J.I. & Colombatto, D., 2015. "Efficiency and stability in subtropical beef cattle grazing systems in the northwest of Argentina," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 85-96.
    12. Forte, Annachiara & Zucaro, Amalia & De Vico, Gionata & Fierro, Angelo, 2016. "Carbon footprint of heliciculture: A case study from an Italian experimental farm," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 99-111.
    13. Oishi, Kazato & Kato, Yohei & Ogino, Akifumi & Hirooka, Hiroyuki, 2013. "Economic and environmental impacts of changes in culling parity of cows and diet composition in Japanese beef cow–calf production systems," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 95-103.
    14. Kearney, M. & O'Riordan, E.G. & Byrne, N. & Breen, J. & Crosson, P., 2023. "Mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions in pasture-based dairy-beef production systems," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 211(C).
    15. González, Alejandro D. & Frostell, Björn & Carlsson-Kanyama, Annika, 2011. "Protein efficiency per unit energy and per unit greenhouse gas emissions: Potential contribution of diet choices to climate change mitigation," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(5), pages 562-570, October.
    16. Mosnier, Claire & Duclos, Anne & Agabriel, Jacques & Gac, Armelle, 2017. "Orfee: A bio-economic model to simulate integrated and intensive management of mixed crop-livestock farms and their greenhouse gas emissions," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 202-215.
    17. McGee, M. & Moloney, A.P. & O'Riordan, E.G. & Regan, M. & Lenehan, C. & Kelly, A.K. & Crosson, P., 2023. "Pasture-finishing of late-maturing bulls or steers in a suckler calf-to-beef system: Animal production, meat quality, economics, greenhouse gas emissions and human-edible food-feed efficiency," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 209(C).
    18. Alexandra Sintori & Angelos Liontakis & Irene Tzouramani, 2019. "Assessing the Environmental Efficiency of Greek Dairy Sheep Farms: GHG Emissions and Mitigation Potential," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-14, February.
    19. Johanna Ruett & Lena Hennes & Jens Teubler & Boris Braun, 2022. "How Compatible Are Western European Dietary Patterns to Climate Targets? Accounting for Uncertainty of Life Cycle Assessments by Applying a Probabilistic Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-21, November.
    20. Modongo, Oteng & Kulshreshtha, Suren N., 2018. "Economics of mitigating greenhouse gas emissions from beef production in western Canada," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 229-238.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mosnier, C. & Agabriel, J. & Lherm, M. & Reynaud, A., 2009. "A dynamic bio-economic model to simulate optimal adjustments of suckler cow farm management to production and market shocks in France," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 102(1-3), pages 77-88, October.
    2. Jacquet, Florence & Butault, Jean-Pierre & Guichard, Laurence, 2011. "An economic analysis of the possibility of reducing pesticides in French field crops," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(9), pages 1638-1648, July.
    3. Janssen, Sander & van Ittersum, Martin K., 2007. "Assessing farm innovations and responses to policies: A review of bio-economic farm models," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 94(3), pages 622-636, June.
    4. Janssen, Sander J.C. & van Ittersum, Martin K., 2007. "Assessing farmer behaviour as affected by policy and technological innovations: bio-economic farm models," Reports 9293, Wageningen University, SEAMLESS: System for Environmental and Agricultural Modelling; Linking European Science and Society.
    5. Crosson, P. & O'Kiely, P. & O'Mara, F.P. & Wallace, M., 2006. "The development of a mathematical model to investigate Irish beef production systems," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 89(2-3), pages 349-370, September.
    6. Le Gal, P.-Y. & Dugué, P. & Faure, G. & Novak, S., 2011. "How does research address the design of innovative agricultural production systems at the farm level? A review," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 104(9), pages 714-728.
    7. van Calker, K.J. & Berentsen, P.B.M. & Giesen, G.W.J. & Huirne, R.B.M., 2008. "Maximising sustainability of Dutch dairy farming systems for different stakeholders: A modelling approach," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(2), pages 407-419, April.
    8. Bohan, A. & Shalloo, L. & Malcolm, B. & Ho, C.K.M. & Creighton, P. & Boland, T.M. & McHugh, N., 2016. "Description and validation of the Teagasc Lamb Production Model," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 124-134.
    9. Mosnier, Claire & Ridier, Aude & Kphaliacos, Charilaos & Carpy-Goulard, Françoise, 2009. "Economic and environmental impact of the CAP mid-term review on arable crop farming in South-western France," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(5), pages 1408-1416, March.
    10. Petr Havlik & Geoffroy Enjolras & Jean-Marie Boisson & Florence Jacquet & Michel Lherm & Patrick Veysset, 2008. "Environmental good production in the optimum activities portfolio of a risk averse-farmer," Review of Agricultural and Environmental Studies - Revue d'Etudes en Agriculture et Environnement, INRA Department of Economics, vol. 86(1), pages 9-33.
    11. Tzemi, Domna & Breen, James, 2019. "Reducing greenhouse gas emissions through the use of urease inhibitors: A farm level analysis," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 394(C), pages 18-26.
    12. Ashfield, A. & Crosson, P. & Wallace, M., 2013. "Simulation modelling of temperate grassland based dairy calf to beef production systems," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 41-50.
    13. Kamilaris, C. & Dewhurst, R.J. & Vosough Ahmadi, B. & Crosson, P. & Alexander, P., 2020. "A bio-economic model for cost analysis of alternative management strategies in beef finishing systems," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    14. Bamière, Laure & Havlík, Petr & Jacquet, Florence & Lherm, Michel & Millet, Guy & Bretagnolle, Vincent, 2011. "Farming system modelling for agri-environmental policy design: The case of a spatially non-aggregated allocation of conservation measures," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(5), pages 891-899, March.
    15. Petr Havlik & Geoffroy Enjolras & Jean-Marie Boisson & Florence Jacquet & Michel Lherm & Patrick Veysset, 2008. "Environmental good production in the optimum activities portfolio of a risk averse-farmer," Review of Agricultural and Environmental Studies - Revue d'Etudes en Agriculture et Environnement, INRA Department of Economics, vol. 86(1), pages 9-33.
    16. Vergé, X.P.C. & Dyer, J.A. & Desjardins, R.L. & Worth, D., 2008. "Greenhouse gas emissions from the Canadian beef industry," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 98(2), pages 126-134, September.
    17. Luciano Pilati & Vasco Boatto, 2013. "Bio-Economics Of Allocatable Pollination Services: Sequential Choices And Jointness In Sites," DEM Discussion Papers 2013/18, Department of Economics and Management.
    18. Luciano Pilati & Vasco Boatto, 2014. "Jointness in Sites: The Case of Migratory Beekeeping," DEM Discussion Papers 2014/10, Department of Economics and Management.
    19. Barut, Zeliha Bereket & Ertekin, Can & Karaagac, Hasan Ali, 2011. "Tillage effects on energy use for corn silage in Mediterranean Coastal of Turkey," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(9), pages 5466-5475.
    20. Weerahewa, Jeevika & Dayananda, Dasuni, 2023. "Land use changes and economic effects of alternative fertilizer policies: A simulation analysis with a bio-economic model for a Tank Village of Sri Lanka," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 205(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:agisys:v:103:y:2010:i:1:p:41-50. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/agsy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.