Life cycle assessment (LCA) of conventional and organic milk production

Following the LCA methodology, this study aims to assess and compare the environmental impact of milk production of some conventional and organic farms in Molise region (Italy).The system was defined by the entire life cycle of cows including the agricultural processes of feedstuffs. The functional unit was one kg of energy corrected milk at the farm gate. Data on conventional farms concern two cases: case A, with two different cow’s diets (Conv. A1 and A2), and case B (Conv. B). For the organic farms, data of Org. A1 (study case) are compared with literature data on Org. A2. Results showed Conv.B as the most environment affecting farm and this can be mainly due to the management of feeds and diets of lactating cows. The use of commercial mixed feeds had the largest impact on all conventional farms. Moreover, the Org.A2 had the best performance in terms of environmental impact, due to feeding strategy, breeding methodology and milk yield per cow, followed by the Conv.A1 and A2 farms.