The blue water use of milk production in North Italy : a case study

Water use in livestock sector is a source of concern for the high water requirements needed to produce milk and dairy products. In this context, water footprint has become an important tool of water use in milk production life cycle. The present study focuses on the assessment of environmental impact associated with the freshwater use (blue water use) of milk production in a dairy farm of North Italy. The blue water use was 52.5 L per kg FPCM-1. The results show two main impacting sources on water use: the production of on-farm crops (44.5%) and purchased feed (39%). The findings of the current evaluation are relevant to identify improvement options, such as water use effectiveness in on-farm crops irrigation, sourcing off-farm feed with only rainwater requirements or purchasing feed from countries where water scarcity is lower.