A review of farm level modelling approaches for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions from ruminant livestock systems

Ruminant livestock systems contribute to global warming through the emission of nitrous oxide (N2O), methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2). This paper discusses a general framework for a whole-farm approach to develop cost-effective GHG mitigation strategies. A dairy farm is a complex system with different interacting components. Generally, whole-farm approaches distinguish at least an animal component and a soil–crop component. Whole-farm models should be able to give an accurate representation of the internal cycling of materials and its constituents as well as the exchange between the farming system and its environment. The paper gives an overview of current whole-farm models that are able to simulate GHG emissions for dairy farms. These models are DairySim, FarmGHG, SIMSDAIRY and FarmSim. All models are able to calculate CH4 and N2O emissions, but differences appear in the ability to calculate CO2 emissions, economics and other parameters. The effects of selected mitigation strategies are demonstrated with some of the models. It is concluded that a whole-farm approach is a powerful tool for the development of cost-effective GHG mitigation options as it reveals relevant interactions between farm components. Model calculations underlined the relationship between farm gate N surplus and GHG emissions, and thus the possibility to use N surpluses as an indicator for GHG emissions.