A review of whole farm-system analysis in evaluating greenhouse-gas mitigation strategies from livestock production systems

Recognition is increasingly given to the need of improving agricultural production and efficiency to meet growing global food demand whilst minimising environmental impacts. Livestock forms an important component of global food production and is a significant contributor to anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. As such, livestock production systems (LPS) are coming under increasing pressure to lower their emissions. In developed countries, LPS have been gradually reducing their emissions per unit of product (emissions intensity; EI) over time through improvements in production efficiency. However, the global challenge of reducing net emissions (NE) from livestock requires that the rate of decline in EI surpasses the productivity increases required to satisfy global food demand.