Type of indicator
Quantitative
Relative dimension and aggregated criteria
Environmental sustainability: Herd management practices: Circular feed supply: Ration composition
Description
This indicator refers to the concentrate-to-forage ratio in the diet of dairy animals. It allows for the comparison of concentrate and forage consumptions. It is an indirect measure of the dependency on industrial feed production. This indicator was identified as a key aspect of environmental sustainability based on technical information from Pellerin et al. (2013). Specifically, the Pellerin et al. (2013) report highlights options to reduce protein intake in animal feed and limit N content in effluents and associated nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions. Please refer to action #8 in Pellerin et al. (2013).
Indicator calculation
(𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑢𝑠𝑒 / 𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑢𝑠𝑒) ∗ 100
Unit
Percentage
Where:
Total concentrate use = Total amount of concentrates fed, expressed in t DM
Total forage use = Total amount of forage-fed, expressed in t DM
Indicator interpretation
Lower values are associated with better environmental management practices and are thus expected to lead to enhanced environmental sustainability.
Scale definition
| Reference
values (%) |
Scale | Dexi interpretation | References | |||
| 35 | < 20 | Low | + | Adapted from (Machado et al., 2014). Scale built in a participative approach by scientists and experts | ||
| 45 | [20;
35[ |
Medium to low | ||||
| 55 | [35;50] | Medium to high | ||||
| >50 | High | – | ||||
References
Expert opinion based on technical information Based on Pellerin et al. (2013) technical report on reducing protein intake in animal feed to limit nitrogen content in effluents and associated N2O emissions.
Pellerin, S., Bamière, L., Angers, D., Béline, F., Benoît, M., Butault, J.P., Chen, C., Colnenne- David, C., De Cara, S., Delame, N., Doreau, M., Dupraz, P., Faverdi, P., Garccia-Launa, F., Hassouna, M., Hénault, C., Jeuffroy, M.H., Klumpp, K., Metay, A., Moran, D., Recous, S., Samson, E., Savini, I., Pardon, L., 2013. Quelle contribution de l’agriculture française à la réduction des émissions de gaz à effet de serre ? Potentiel d’atténuation et coût de dix actions techniques. INRA, France, p. 92p.