Environmental performances of three Sardinian dairy sheep production systems at different levels of intensity

Within the CAP "greening" reform process, the optimization of environmental performances is a crucial factor to improve the competitiveness of small and medium farms, especially in marginal rural areas. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is the most advanced and complete computational tool for providing a widespread knowledge on the environmental aspects associated with products or production processes. This paper illustrates an LCA study carried out to assess the environmental impacts of sheep milk production obtained in three different dairy farms located in North-Western Sardinia, Italy. The main goals of the analysis were (i) to compare the performances of three sheep milk production systems at different levels of intensity, and (ii) to identify the hotspots to improve the environmental performances of each farm. The analysis was conducted using two different functional units: 1 kg of Fat and Protein Corrected Milk and 1 ha of Utilized Agricultural Area. The life cycle was assessed "from cradle to gate", including all the input and output related to sheep breeding and using farm-specific data for year 2011. The potential impacts associated with milk production were quantified using three different impact assessment methods. In addition, some options for improving the environmental performances of each farm were identified: for all farms, changing power supply strategy; for semi-intensive and intensive farms, using locally-produced feed and increasing the use of pasture resources; for extensive and semi-intensive farms, rethinking on size and number of agricultural machineries.