Estimating environmental impacts of agricultural systems with LCA using data from the French Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN)

This work developed environmental indicators from the economic and agricultural database of Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN). Two environmental impacts, climate change and non-renewable energy use, were estimated from the database according to the life cycle assessment (LCA) approach. The large variability observed seems to be linked to production orientation and geographic location. Livestock production was strongly correlated with the impact of climate change, particularly cattle production, due to its high emissions of enteric methane. Farms specialized in cereals and cash crops showed high non-renewable energy use, linked with intensive use of mineral fertilizers. Some mixed farm holdings, whether livestock-oriented or crop-and livestock-oriented, had impacts similar to those of the specialized farming system which each of them resembled most. Impacts varied according to geographic location in France. For farms specialized in cereals or dairy production, direct greenhouse gas emissions and indirect energy consumption predominated. Impacts for specialized dairy farms varied greatly per unit of agricultural area ( hectares) but less per 1,000 euros of revenue. In contrast, impact variability for specialized cereal farms was lower per hectare but considerably greater per 1,000 euros. Continuing the study will be useful for improving methods and results of these farming systems. It will also be interesting to consider more detailed methods to understand mixed crop-livestock farms, as these systems are widespread.