Using systems-based life cycle assessment to investigate the environmental and economic impacts and benefits of the livestock sector in the UK

The livestock industry is a significant component of the agricultural and rural sectors in the UK. Grassland for livestock accounts for almost half of the terrestrial surface of the UK and almost two-thirds of its managed agricultural land. It therefore accounts for a major proportion of rural employment and income and provides many landscape and biodiversity benefits. Taking an ecosystems-services-framework approach, an integrated livestock-ecosystems linear programming model was developed to assess economic and environmental impacts of the livestock sector. This combined life cycle assessment systems analysis with economic and valuation data and enabled plausible future scenarios to be assessed in terms of provisioning, regulating and cultural services. Analysis showed the main benefit coming from provisioning services and also the significant role the sector plays in providing cultural services, and the trade-offs between these and the cost of regulating services with respect to emissions to air and water.