Ruminant livestock accounts for 30% of all methane emissions worldwide, making the sector an important target to reduce the release of this potent greenhouse gas associated with climate change – and most potential improvements are in developing countries, an expert with the United Nations' Food an Agriculture Organisation has said.

Carbon footprint

Figures presented by FAO livestock policy officer Carolyn Opio at the Alltech Technical Summit in Dublin this Thursday show that emissions from 1kg of fat and protein corrected milk ranged between 1kg and 2kg equivalent carbon dioxide (CO2e) in 2015 among developed countries (those in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development – OECD).

The range was between 3kg and 8kg in Latin America, 2kg and 6kg in south and east Asia, and 4kg and 14kg in Africa.

The carbon footprint of Irish milk is just over 1kgCO2e, according to Bord Bia and EU figures.

"Increasing efficiency is most important in developing countries. It is also important in OECD countries, but a limit is reached unless new technologies come on stream in the coming years," said Opio. "We are pushing the limit."

The FAO expert told the Irish Farmers Journal that within Ireland, the most productive farmers are those in this situation. There is little room for them to improve efficiency in areas such as feed conversion or fertility. However, "you still have producers in Ireland that are not performing very well" and bringing them to the top level would make a difference.

Circular economy

Once that is achieved, Opio added that other avenues are available to lower the carbon footprint further. This includes developing the circular economy, recycling resources to avoid pulling new ones out of the environment.

For example, using more food by-products in animal feed reduces the need to grow grain, and generating renewable energy or bringing processing closer to the farm can cut fossil fuel requirements.

We don't know exactly what works where

Opio also acknowledged the potential of storing more carbon in grassland. She said UN climate experts estimate that farmed pastures and rangelands account for 30% of the world's potential to take CO2 out of the atmosphere and lock it into organic soils.

However, more research is needed to exploit this. "It is very location-specific," Opio said. "We don't know exactly what works where."