Abstract
Ruminant livestock farming is an important agricultural activity, mainly located in less favoured areas. Furthermore, ruminants have been identified as a significant source of GHG emissions. In this study, a whole-farm optimisation model is used to assess the socio-economic and environmental performance of the dairy sheep farming activity in Greece. The analysis is undertaken in two sheep farms that represent the extensive and the semi-intensive farming systems. Gross margin and labour are regarded as socio-economic indicators and GHG emissions as environmental indicators. The issue of the marginal abatement cost is also addressed. The results indicate that the semi-intensive system yields a higher gross margin/ewe (179 €) than the extensive system (117 €) and requires less labour. The extensive system causes higher emissions/kg of milk than the semi-intensive system (5.45 and 2.99 kg of CO2 equivalents, respectively). In both production systems, abatement is achieved primarily via reduction of the flock size and switch to cash crops. However, the marginal abatement cost is much higher in the case of the semi-intensive farms, due to their high productivity.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Hellenic Ministry of Rural Development and Food.
- 2.
CH4 and N2O have been converted to CO2 equivalents using the following conversion factors: 1 kg of CH4 = 25 and 1 kg of N2O = 298 (IPCC 2006).
- 3.
1 stremma (strm) = 0.1 ha.
- 4.
It should be noted that the performance of the mathematical model is satisfactory, since the optimal farm plan is very close to the observed one, especially in the case of the semi-intensive farm.
References
Alford, A. R., Griffith, G. R., Cacho, O. (2004, March). A Northern Tablelands whole-farm linear program for economic evaluation of new technologies at the farm-level. (Economic Research Report No. 13), Retrieved from NSW Website: http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/research/areas/biosecurity/economics-research/reports/err13
Audsley, E., Stacey, K., Parson, D. J., Williams, A. G. (2009). Estimation of the greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural pesticide manufacture and use. Retrieved December 1, 2009, from Cranfield University. Prepared for Crop Protection Association. Web site: https://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/bitstream/1826/3913/1/Estimation_of_the_greenhouse_gas_emissions_from_agricultural_pesticide_manufacture_and_use-2009.pdf
Benoit, M., & Laignel, G. (2008, July). Sheep for meat farming systems in French semi-upland area. Adapting to new context: increased concentrates and energy prices, and new agricultural policy (Paper presented at the 8th Symposium of the International Farming Systems, Clermont-Ferrand, France).
Breen, J., Donnellan, T. (2009, March–April). Estimating the marginal cost of greenhouse gas emissions abatement using Irish farm-level data. (Paper presented at the 83rd Annual Conference of the Agricultural Economics Society, Dublin, Ireland).
Crosson, P., O’ Kiely, P., O’ Mara, F. P., & Wallace, M. (2006). The development of a mathematical model to investigate Irish beef production systems. Agricultural System, 89, 349–370.
De Cara, S., & Jayet, P. A. (2000). Emissions of greenhouse gases from agriculture: The heterogeneity of abatement costs in France. European Review of Agricultural Economics, 27(3), 281–303.
H.M.R.D.F. (2007). Sheep and Goat Sector Development. Retrieved October 17, 2007 from: http://www.minagric.gr/greek/ENHM_FYLADIA_ZWIKHS/ENHM_FYL_zoiki.htm (in Greek).
IPCC. (2006). IPCC Guidelines for national greenhouse gas inventories. Retrieved March 6, 2010 from Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: Bracknell, U.K. Web site: http://www.ipcc-nggip.iges.or.jp/public/2006gl/vol4.html
Kalaisakis, P. (1965). Applied animal nutrition. Athens: Giourdas M. Publishing. in Greek.
Kitsopanides, G. (2006). Economics of animal production. Thessaloniki: ZITI Publishing. in Greek.
Neufeldt, H., & Schäfer, M. (2008). Mitigation strategies for greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture using a regional economic-ecosystem model. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 123, 305–314.
Olesen, J. E., Schelde, K., Weiske, A., Weisbjerg, M. R., Asman, W. A. H., & Djurhuus, J. (2006). Modelling greenhouse gas emissions from European conventional and organic dairy farms. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 112, 207–220.
Petersen, E. H., Schilizzi, S., Bennet, D. (2009). The impacts of greenhouse gas abatement policies on the predominantly grazing systems of south-western Australia. Retrieved October 2, 2009 from the Australian National University, Asia Pacific School of Economics and Government, International and development Economics: Working Paper 02–9 Web site: http://www.crawford.anu.edu.au/degrees/idec/working_papers/IDEC02-9.pdf
Pitesky, M., Stachhouse, K. R., & Mitloehner, F. M. (2009). Clearing the air: Livestock’s contribution to climate change. Advances in Agronomy, 103, 1–40.
Pretty, J., & Ball, A. (2001). Agricultural influences on carbon sequestration: A review of evidence and the emerging trading options. Retrieved October 2, 2009, from the University of Essex, Center for Environment and Society and Department of Biological Studies, Occasional Paper 2001–2003, Website: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.188.7509&rep=rep1&type=pdf
Schils, R. L. M., de Haan, M. H. A., Hemmer, J. G. A., van den Pol-van Dasselaar, A., de Boer, J. A., Evers, A. G., Holshof, G., van Middelkoop, J. C., & Zom, R. L. G. (2007). DairyWise, a whole-farm dairy model. American Dairy Science Association, 90, 5334–5346.
Smith, E. G., & Upadhyay, M. (2005, July). Greenhouse gas mitigation on diversified farms. (Paper presented at the Western Agricultural economics Association-Western Economics Association International Joint Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, USA).
Vermorel, M., Jouany, J.-P., Eugene, M., Sauvant, D., Noblet, J., & Dourmad, J.-Y. (2008). Evaluation quantitative des émissions de méthane entérique par les animaux d’élevage en 2007 en France. INRA Productions Animales, 21(5), 403–418.
Veysset, P., Bedin, D., & Lherm, M. (2005). Adaptation to Agenda 2000 (CAP reform) and optimization of the farming system of French suckler cattle farms in the Charolais area: A model-based study. Agricultural Systems, 83, 179–202.
Veysset, P., Lherm, M., & Bédin, D. (2010). Energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and economic performance assessments in French Charolais suckler cattle farms: Model-based analysis and forecasts. Agricultural Systems, 103, 41–50.
Weiske, A., Vabitsch, A., Olesen, J. E., Schelde, K., Michel, J., Friedrich, R., & Kaltschmitt, M. (2006). Mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions in European conventional and organic dairy farming. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 112, 221–232.
Wood, S., & Cowie, A. (2004, July). A review of greenhouse gas emission factors for fertilizer production. IEA Bioenergy Task 38. Retrieved from http://www.ieabioenergy-task38.org/publications/GHG_Emission_Fertilizer%20Production_July2004.pdf
Zervas, G., Kalaisakis, P., & Feggeros, K. (2000). Farm animal nutrition. Athens: Stamoulis Publishing. n Greek.
Acknowledgements
This research has been co-financed by the European Union (European Social Fund – ESF) and Greek national funds through the Operational Programme “Education and Lifelong Learning” of the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF) – Research Funding Program: Heracleitus II – investing in knowledge society through the European Social Fund.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Sintori, A., Tsiboukas, K., Zervas, G. (2013). Evaluating Socio-economic and Environmental Sustainability of the Sheep Farming Activity in Greece: A Whole-Farm Mathematical Programming Approach. In: Marta-Costa, A., Soares da Silva, E. (eds) Methods and Procedures for Building Sustainable Farming Systems. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5003-6_15
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5003-6_15
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-5002-9
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-5003-6
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)