Grana Padano (GP) and Parmigiano Reggiano (PR) are the two most important Italian PDO cheeses. To improve the environmental sustainability of their production, a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was completed on 84 dairy farms located in the province of Mantova (Northern Italy). In particular, 33 farms delivered milk for GP production, whereas 51 farms to dairies for PR production. In GP farms, maize silage represented 33.7% of total farmland and alfalfa represented 28.1%. While in PR farms, alfalfa represented 63.6% of total farmland. Fat and Protein Corrected Milk (FPCM) and Dairy Efficiency (DE, calculated as kg of produced FPCM per kg of DM intake) were different in the two production system: FPCM was 30.2 +/- 4.32 kg/d in GP farms and 25.0 +/- 4.71 kg/d in PR farms; DE was 1.35 +/- 0.26 in GP farms, and 1.15 +/- 0.22 in PR farms. Mitigation strategies to improve both environmental and economic sustainability were suggested focussing on forage crop production, milk production, herd management and off-farm purchased feed. From the preliminary results, there is evidence that improvements are needed. Climate Change (kg CO2 eq/kg FPCM) and Land Use (kg Carbon deficit/kg FPCM) were similar (1.38 +/- 0.33 and 19.3 +/- 7.08 for GP system; 1.46 +/- 0.37 and 21.8 +/- 11.4 for PR system). The most efficient farms in terms of milk production and DE generally showed the best environmental and economic sustainability, while the others show worse outcomes, mainly due to poor DE, livestock-management issues, feed purchase and ration composition.

Improvements to dairy farms for environmental sustainability in Grana Padano and Parmigiano Reggiano production systems / D. Lovarelli, L. Bava, M. Zucali, G. D'Imporzano, F. Adani, A. Tamburini, A. Sandrucci. - In: ITALIAN JOURNAL OF ANIMAL SCIENCE. - ISSN 1828-051X. - 18:1(2019 Jan 02), pp. 1035-1048. [10.1080/1828051X.2019.1611389]

Improvements to dairy farms for environmental sustainability in Grana Padano and Parmigiano Reggiano production systems

D. Lovarelli
Primo
;
L. Bava
Secondo
;
M. Zucali;G. D'Imporzano;F. Adani;A. Tamburini
Penultimo
;
A. Sandrucci
Ultimo
2019

Abstract

Grana Padano (GP) and Parmigiano Reggiano (PR) are the two most important Italian PDO cheeses. To improve the environmental sustainability of their production, a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was completed on 84 dairy farms located in the province of Mantova (Northern Italy). In particular, 33 farms delivered milk for GP production, whereas 51 farms to dairies for PR production. In GP farms, maize silage represented 33.7% of total farmland and alfalfa represented 28.1%. While in PR farms, alfalfa represented 63.6% of total farmland. Fat and Protein Corrected Milk (FPCM) and Dairy Efficiency (DE, calculated as kg of produced FPCM per kg of DM intake) were different in the two production system: FPCM was 30.2 +/- 4.32 kg/d in GP farms and 25.0 +/- 4.71 kg/d in PR farms; DE was 1.35 +/- 0.26 in GP farms, and 1.15 +/- 0.22 in PR farms. Mitigation strategies to improve both environmental and economic sustainability were suggested focussing on forage crop production, milk production, herd management and off-farm purchased feed. From the preliminary results, there is evidence that improvements are needed. Climate Change (kg CO2 eq/kg FPCM) and Land Use (kg Carbon deficit/kg FPCM) were similar (1.38 +/- 0.33 and 19.3 +/- 7.08 for GP system; 1.46 +/- 0.37 and 21.8 +/- 11.4 for PR system). The most efficient farms in terms of milk production and DE generally showed the best environmental and economic sustainability, while the others show worse outcomes, mainly due to poor DE, livestock-management issues, feed purchase and ration composition.
Grana Padano; Parmigiano Reggiano; dairy efficiency; environmental sustainability; Life Cycle Assessment
Settore AGR/19 - Zootecnica Speciale
   Demonstrative mOdel of circular economy Process in a high quality dairy industry
   LIFE DOP
   EUROPEAN COMMISSION
2-gen-2019
25-mag-2019
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/2434/651422
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