LIVESTOCK - Sustainable Livestock Production

In the LIVESTOCK project, we have documented sustainability in Norwegian livestock systems by developing holistic models for life cycle assessment and using these as a basis for further work in the project. The system boundaries are from soil to product, considering environmental, economic, and social aspects. We have focused on utilization of domestic biomass in Norwegian livestock production while maintaining sustainability. The LIVESTOCK project has had a broad, interdisciplinary research group from NMBU, NORSUS, and NIBIO, in addition to collaboration with SLU, Aarhus University, and the University of Copenhagen in all publications. Monthly work package meetings have ensured communication and cooperation across the work packages. Throughout the project period, we have worked with combined cattle production of milk and meat, beef cattle production, and pig production. The models are programmed in the software SimaPro and extensive data collection from various sources has been performed. The basic structure for the life cycle models in the project is composed of modules making it easy to replace or add modules, if necessary, and the models are meant to be used in further research. Several collaborations have been established along the way where the models have been used, either through research projects or tasks. The project has resulted in seven scientific papers. In the first, the topic was yeast as a protein source in pig feed, and we demonstrated that replacing soy with yeast protein produced on wood sugar resulted in a lower environmental impact, including less loss of biodiversity. In addition, we got less competition between feed and food, by using smaller areas that could have been used to grow food. In the second paper, we collaborated with the partners at SLU using the yeast model for scenario calculations through a OneHealth approach on pigs. It was shown that a framework for OneHealth can be used to analyze negative impacts from pig production, both within environment, health, and animal welfare. The third paper dealt with circularity indicators and how these can complement impact categories in LCA, through an example from pig production. A total of eight circularity indicators were tested and included separately or complementary, based on the purpose of the calculations, they can show the effect of moving from linear systems to more circular systems. The fourth article provided a comparison of production systems for milk and meat from cattle through three scenarios with different production intensities. Climate change was calculated using GWP100 and GWP*. An overall evaluation showed that a low-intensity system gave better area efficiency and less loss of biodiversity, while at the same time giving a better effect on greenhouse gas emissions in the short term, which can buy us time for finding new solutions. In the fifth paper, we explored social sustainability in Norwegian livestock production through participation from six different stakeholder groups. The study showed that social sustainability is generally well ensured. An increased degree of circularity in livestock production produced higher social performance within the selected impact categories. The sixth work explored different strategies for future Norwegian livestock production, where the transition to domestic feed and an increased degree of circularity were assessed using the holistic system models in the project. Circular livestock production with lower intensity resulted in a lower loss of biodiversity, better resource utilization, and less competition between feed and food. In the latest work, the threads of knowledge in the project are linked together, and we have looked at the transition from existing policy for food production to management of a biomass value hierarchy, given different criteria and different perspectives. The results show that a transition to a more circular and sustainable food production will be achievable in terms of covering protein demand but will require good governance with a high degree of economic incentives. In addition to the scientific papers, the project has resulted in several conference contributions and scientific/popular science talks. The work has also been implemented into teaching at NMBU, through the project manager's courses at both bachelor's, master's, and post-graduate levels. The project has also had two internship students – one with food waste as a topic and another student doing a literature review of multi-criteria assessments in food systems. In addition, several BSc and MSc theses have been conducted within the project. The knowledge from the project forms an important foundation for further understanding and knowledge development related to sustainability in Norwegian food production and has also resulted in several new projects with new collaboration constellations.

I løpet av de fire årene som prosjektet har løpt, har prosjektet gitt økt innsikt i hva som kan være bærekraftige løsninger for framtidas husdyrproduksjon i Norge, gjennom utvikling og videre bruk av modeller for påvirkning innen miljømessige, sosiale og, til dels, økonomiske forhold. Det har også oppstått gode samarbeidsrelasjoner mellom ulike forskningsinstitusjoner som har ført til nye prosjekter/-søknader. Vi har hatt utstrakt kommunikasjonsvirksomhet ut mot ulike målgrupper (produsenter, forvaltning, bedrifter/næringsliv m.fl.) om resultatene, og presentert nye tanker for hvordan framtidas matproduksjon kan og bør være, basert på vitenskapelig arbeid. Noen hovedresultater fra prosjektet i sin helhet er den viktige rollen drøvtyggerne har i det norske matsystemet samt hvilke muligheter som ligger i økt sirkularitet og forbedret ressursutnyttelse. Resultatene fra prosjektet er interessant for, og brukes til, undervisning på bachelor-, master- og videreutdanningsnivå. Resultatene vil også potensielt kunne påvirke framtidig politikkutforming for norsk matproduksjon, og for bruk av virkemidler, når alle artiklene er publisert. Resultatene vil videreutvikles i nye prosjekter og gir også grobunn for videre internasjonalt samarbeid.

Norway is to become a low-emission society within 2050, and to reach this goal, there is a high focus on reductions in the emissions from livestock production. Still, the livestock production has an important role in our food production, as the domestic demography limits our growth conditions for food directly consumable to humans. In the Norwegian production of concentrates for livestock, the share of domestic raw material is low for the protein content of the feed, and we are dependent on import of feed ingredients. To increase the domestically produced protein in concentrates, the use of novel feed resources such as yeast grown from wood sugar is explored through Foods of Norway, a Centre for Research-based Innovation at Norwegian University of Life Sciences. To be able to develop the livestock production for the future, there is a need for more knowledge of the sustainability and the economic viability of livestock production and utilization of novel feed resources. This knowledge should also include a broader spectre of environmental, resource and social aspects, and assess potential trade-offs between climate gas mitigation and other sustainability aspects. LIVESTOCK aims to contribute to sustainable livestock farming in Norway by documenting the sustainability of livestock production through holistic models, approached by life cycle assessment methodology and covering the social and economic aspects. Specifically, the project will document the sustainability of novel feed ingredients in concentrates to ruminants and monogastrics. This will be an important supplement to the research in Foods of Norway and to the future development of climate-smart agriculture in Norway. LIVESTOCK will also explore various scenarios for future livestock production from domestic feed resources, and explore its foundations stemming from the interaction between primary producers’ decision-making, public regulation and consumer behaviour. The scenarios explored are covering two main directions for domestic livestock production; sustainable intensification (SusInt) and circular food production (FullCirc). In the SusInt scenario, the goal is to maximize the production of animal source food with least input, to cover the increasing demand for food in an increasing human population. In the FullCirc scenario, the aim is to obtain a circular production of animal source food by utilizing the natural resources optimally. The scenarios will be compared based on calculations of e.g. environmental impact, land use efficiency, impact on biodiversity, and the ability to serve the nutritional needs of the human population. At the end of the project, the knowledge from these scenario calculations will make the basis for a multi-objective analysis and evaluation of policy instruments, regulations and incentives, before concluding the main findings in the project.