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Purpose <p>Cattle production has substantial environmental impacts, especially from feed crop production and enteric fermentation. The climate change impacts of cattle-based products are already widely studied, yet other environmental impacts such as eutrophication and land use also require attention to avoid potential trade-offs. For a wider inclusion of sustainability dimensions and to direct the sustainability measures in Finnish dairy production more accurately, the effect of actions on environmental impacts but also on risks for social impacts is needed to be assessed.</p> Methods <p>Dairy production scenarios were assessed using a Life Cycle Assessment for their effect on environmental impacts and risks for social impacts. Scenarios included two levels of concentrates, 45% and 35%, with typical grass-silage based mixed rations with rapeseed meal as controls. The scenarios focused on replacing imported inputs such as rapeseed meal with domestically produced leguminous crops: (1) half of the grass silage substituted with red clover (CL), (2) rapeseed meal substituted with faba beans (FB) and (3) a combination of the two (CL + FB). The inclusion of leguminous crops in dairy cow diets was also evaluated in terms of the pre-crop effects.</p> Results <p>Regarding environmental impacts, the lowest emissions per cow were achieved with a 35% concentrate CL + FB ration. When the environmental impacts were assessed per kilogram of fat- and protein-corrected milk (FPCM), the 45% concentrate level had better environmental performance due to its higher productivity. For eutrophication potential 13–24% lower emissions were achieved in all scenarios compared to controls, largely due to nutrient-efficiency in clover and faba bean cultivation. At the product level, 45% concentrate levels showed lower eutrophication when corresponding mixed rations were compared, and CL and CL + FB consistently outperformed other scenarios. The land demand assessment showed slight differences; the lowest impacts were achieved with FB due to pre-crop effects. In terms of risks for social impacts, both FB and CL + FB exhibited lower risk levels compared to the control and CL. A more detailed examination of the social impact categories revealed four with the most significant differences in risk values: ‘Fair Salary’, ‘Industrial Water Depletion’, ‘Public Sector Corruption’, ‘Sanitation Coverage’.</p> Conclusions <p>Overall, mixed rations with domestic legumes indicated improvement of the sustainability of dairy production as both the environmental impacts and risks for social impacts were reduced with their introduction. However, the milk yield played a key role. When introducing legumes in dairy cows’ diets, it is important to maintain a good level of productivity by optimizing mixed rations to avoid increased burdens at product level.</p>

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Environmental and social life cycle assessment of milk—the effect of leguminous feed crops in dairy cow diets on sustainability

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

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  • 发表日期：

    2026年3月12日

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  • Sanna Hietala,
  • Karetta Vikki,
  • Anu Reinikainen,
  • Kaisa Kuoppala,
  • Aila Vanhatalo,
  • Tuomo Kokkonen,
  • Anna-Liisa Välimaa

摘要

Purpose

Cattle production has substantial environmental impacts, especially from feed crop production and enteric fermentation. The climate change impacts of cattle-based products are already widely studied, yet other environmental impacts such as eutrophication and land use also require attention to avoid potential trade-offs. For a wider inclusion of sustainability dimensions and to direct the sustainability measures in Finnish dairy production more accurately, the effect of actions on environmental impacts but also on risks for social impacts is needed to be assessed.

Methods

Dairy production scenarios were assessed using a Life Cycle Assessment for their effect on environmental impacts and risks for social impacts. Scenarios included two levels of concentrates, 45% and 35%, with typical grass-silage based mixed rations with rapeseed meal as controls. The scenarios focused on replacing imported inputs such as rapeseed meal with domestically produced leguminous crops: (1) half of the grass silage substituted with red clover (CL), (2) rapeseed meal substituted with faba beans (FB) and (3) a combination of the two (CL + FB). The inclusion of leguminous crops in dairy cow diets was also evaluated in terms of the pre-crop effects.

Results

Regarding environmental impacts, the lowest emissions per cow were achieved with a 35% concentrate CL + FB ration. When the environmental impacts were assessed per kilogram of fat- and protein-corrected milk (FPCM), the 45% concentrate level had better environmental performance due to its higher productivity. For eutrophication potential 13–24% lower emissions were achieved in all scenarios compared to controls, largely due to nutrient-efficiency in clover and faba bean cultivation. At the product level, 45% concentrate levels showed lower eutrophication when corresponding mixed rations were compared, and CL and CL + FB consistently outperformed other scenarios. The land demand assessment showed slight differences; the lowest impacts were achieved with FB due to pre-crop effects. In terms of risks for social impacts, both FB and CL + FB exhibited lower risk levels compared to the control and CL. A more detailed examination of the social impact categories revealed four with the most significant differences in risk values: ‘Fair Salary’, ‘Industrial Water Depletion’, ‘Public Sector Corruption’, ‘Sanitation Coverage’.

Conclusions

Overall, mixed rations with domestic legumes indicated improvement of the sustainability of dairy production as both the environmental impacts and risks for social impacts were reduced with their introduction. However, the milk yield played a key role. When introducing legumes in dairy cows’ diets, it is important to maintain a good level of productivity by optimizing mixed rations to avoid increased burdens at product level.