Abstract: The study reviews carbon footprint (CF) for milk production in Latin America from cradle to farm gate. The objective is to estimate: 1) the effect of production system (zero-grazing, mixed, and pasture), 2) animal breed (specialized dairy vs. dual-purpose), and 3) climate (tropical vs. temperate) on milk production (kg/cow/day) and CF [kg CO2eq/kg fat and protein corrected milk (FPCM)]. A systematic literature was conducted, in which 11 studies which estimate 32 individual CF were included in the final analysis. Studies included in the final analysis allowed to calculate CF per kg FPCM, included upstream emissions calculations, and used a Tier 2 approach for enteric methane emissions. The range of the CF observed in the region was of 1.54 to 3.57 kg CO2eq/kg FPCM. In this study, production system had a significant effect on milk production, but not on CF. Zero-grazing compared with pasture systems had a 140% greater milk production (20.1 vs. 8.4 kg of milk/cow/day), but CFs were similar, but numerically greater CF (70%) for pasture systems. This indicates that CFs between production systems can vary greatly, and that low CF might also be possible for systems with lower milk production. Breed and climate had a significant effect on milk production and CF. Compared with specialized dairy cattle, dual-purpose breeds produced less milk and milk with a higher CF. Compared with milk produced in temperate climate, milk produced in tropical climate produced less milk and milk with a higher CF. However, it is not clear if this was an effect of breed or climate, because insufficient studies were available to estimate the effect of breed within climate. A moderate correlation (R2 = 0.48) was found between milk production and CF with decreasing CF with increasing milk production in low producing cattle but not in high producing cattle. In conclusion, high variability within production systems seem to indicate that it is possible to have low emissions in all productions systems and that increases in milk production can be a major driver to reduce CF in low production systems in Latin America. Comparisons of CF of milk production in Latina America with values of CF of milk production in other continents are discussed.

Biography: Carlos Gomez is a Professor in Universidad Nacional Agraria la Molina, Peru since 1990. He earned his BSc degree in Animal Science and MSc in Animal Nutrition in the same university and a PhD degree in Animal Biochemistry from U. Guelph (Canada). His main topic of scientific work is livestock nutrition and feeding. Last research topics are feeding strategies for cattle using agro industrial byproducts, the design of mitigation strategies to reduce carbon footprint of fiber, milk and meat from ruminants and the evaluation of adaptation strategies of livestock to the effects of climate change. From these research he has produced more than 30 papers in reputed journals. Besides actively supervising undergraduates and postgraduate students, he also became external examiner to postgraduate theses from local and overseas universities as well as being reviewer of international journals. He has been invited as speaker, session chair, moderator and facilitator in local and international workshops, symposia and conferences. He has also led during the last 15 years various research projects with funding from World Bank, Interamerican Development Bank, ILRI, International Potato Center and National Science Council USA. Acting as member of invited committee he contributed recently to the Refinement to the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (Emissions from livestock and manure management)