Sustainability assessment for China's intensive dairy farming: Integrating environmental and economic perspectives

Intensive dairy farming (IDF) is crucial for achieving the second Sustainable Development Goal due to its superior milk production efficiency. However, IDF heavily relies on external inputs to increase productivity; this practice simultaneously increases environmental pollution, thereby posing significant challenges to its sustainability. This study conducted a comparative analysis of the environmental and economic sustainability of general-IDF, moderate-IDF, high-IDF, and traditional dairy farming (TDF) in China using a comprehensive method that integrates cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment and life cycle costing. Results showed that among the three IDF scenarios, high-IDF had the lowest external costs, and general-IDF had the lowest internal and total costs. Compared with TDF, IDF demonstrated poorer comprehensive environmental and economic performance, attributed to an increase in roughage expenditure ranging from 28.47 % to 116.73 %. In addition, the output value per ton of milk from IDF was $95.61 to $116.12 less than the total costs, implying the unsustainability of IDF from an integrated environmental and economic perspective. The global warming was the largest environmental impact category for dairy farming, contributing approximately 55 % to the total external costs. Feed dominated the environmental and economic burden with the proportion of approximately 50 % and 60 %, respectively. Key measures to achieve sustainability of IDF were to optimize feed production and consumption, with recommendations for improving feed efficiency and using cow manure as fertilizer. Adjusting the structure and layout of IDF in accordance with the social environment can also enhance the productivity and environmental and economic sustainability of IDF in China.