Summary
The climate impact of meat production is a hotly debated topic. What is less often highlighted is that grazing ruminants can have positive impacts on biodiversity. The aim of this study was to use a life cycle perspective to assess both the climate and biodiversity impact of different beef and lamb production systems in Sweden. Applying a life cycle perspective, a quantitative method to assess biodiversity was used, with a scoring system based on land use. For the climate impact calculations, the ClimAg biophysical systems model was used, including emissions from drained organic soils and carbon sequestration in mineral soils. The functional unit was 1 kg carcass weight. The results indicated large differences in biodiversity and climate impact between the production systems studied. Dairy
Dig deeper with Pulse AI.
Pulse AI has read the whole catalogue. Ask about this record, its theme, or how the findings apply to UK farming and policy — every answer cites the underlying studies.