Environmental and economic performance of Dutch dairy farms on peat soil

CONTEXT: Global demand for milk is increasing, however, the dairy sector has considerable environmental impact and cattle are large contributors to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that lead to global warming. In a circular food system, the role of animals should be to convert biomass that humans cannot or do not want to eat into nutrient-dense products. In this system, dairy cows are only fed with grass from marginal lands and by-products from harvesting and food industries. One example of marginal land are peat areas, since these soils are mainly too wet for arable crop production. However, dr... Mehr ...