The use of broccoli agro-industrial waste in dairy cattle diet for environmental mitigation
Samuel Quintero-Herrera, Azucena Minerva García-León, José Enrique Botello-Álvarez, Alejandro Estrada‐Baltazar, Joaquim E. Abel-Seabra, Alejandro Padilla‐Rivera, Pasiano Rivas‐García
Abstract
Livestock feed production for the intensive dairy industry has a significant environmental impact. This study evaluated the potential to reduce the environmental impacts of milk production in Guanajuato, Mexico, by incorporating broccoli stems (BS), an abundant agro-industrial waste product with high nutritional value, into dairy cattle feed. The potential reduction of environmental impacts from adding BS to cattle diet formulation was estimated using a life cycle assessment and a linear programming model which considered nutritional requirements as constraints. Two scenarios for milk production were considered: an optimized conventional diet and an optimized diet including BS. The results indicated that incorporating BS in cattle feed could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 118 g CO 2 eq kg −1 fat-and-protein corrected milk (FPCM and agricultural land occupation by 0.002 m 2 a kg −1 FPCM but increased fossil depletion by 4 g oil eq kg −1 FPCM. BS can replace 11.1% of conventional feeds and maximize the incorporation feeds with low environmental impacts in the diet, such as alfalfa hay and maize silage. A sensitivity analysis of the economic allocation showed that the maximum price of BS to remain environmentally viable was 19.28 USD t −1 on a fresh matter basis.