By Gonzalo Becoña, Pablo Colina, Pablo Frère, Sofia Paz

The objective of the project was, on the one hand, to collect information on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in pastoral systems in the Chaco region, in the province of Salta, Argentina; and on the other hand, to implement the LEAP guidelines in order to identify information gaps that may exist and to examine the applicability for such systems.

The data collected for this study included the following aspects:

• Animals, focusing on the direct effects from biological processes and the indirect effects resulting from animal excreta, productive subsystems.
• Energy and fuel use, including transportation of oil and inputs, comprising all those used in the production of supplements, such as fertilizers, agrochemicals in general and seed production, with their own manufacturing emissions.
• Land use, accounting emissions from land-use change in the case of GHG emissions. No emissions is considered from land-use change if there is no research information, and neither soil carbon storage resulting from land-use change and afforestation.
• Transport of replacement livestock, if that involves more than one production system, such as breeding and rearing-termination.
• Transport of inputs used in the process, considering distances between the origin and destination.

The study of was focused on three different pastoral systems matching requirements for local systems from different perspectives:

• Extensive system (ES), representing small producers, predominant in the region.
• Semi-extensive system (SES), with a technical proposal for Integrated Crop-Livestock-Forest (ICLF) systems, which aims to be the technical and productive option for the region for small, medium and large producers.
• Intensive System (IS), with several years of rotational megathermic grasslands, representing larger-scale producers.
• In all the cases, there was a great dietary diversity to feed cattle throughout the year. They combined natural pasture species, with harvested native tree products, sowing species and, in some cases, supplement.

Determination of the diet and data quality

For the ES and SES, the species and the percentage in which they were consumed were rebuilt throughout the year. In the case of the IS, based on the data collected and provided by the producer, information was obtained on the use of the different supplements, as well as an estimation of forage production of cultivated species.

The quality of the species in different seasons of the year was determined based on the bibliography. The annual average of diet quality was estimated and expressed in digestibility, crude protein and net energy.

As shown in the figure below, the quality of the diet, low in protein, was different in ES and SES due to the access to native forest. In these cases, animals had access to the outside and were fed with different species, consumed during the day and by season.

Lessons learned

• In these pastoral systems, the energy costs of the activity are associated with cattle grazing or walking. The trend for these particular systems is browsing.
• The models applied to calculate dry matter consumption use equations that have been generated, in most cases, for racial groups in similar handling conditions in temperate climate zones. It was uncertain whether they can be extrapolated for the races used in the province of Chaco.
• The food composition in quantity and quality, as well as the implications it has on methane emissions, mostly, and nitrous oxide or carbon dioxide to a lesser extent.
• The study used methodologies to measure emissions and their intensity during the production process. It did not take into account the carbon sequestration of the system.
• Regarding the data quality, there were information gaps, especially in the SE and SSE. This did not constitute a problem in itself but introduced uncertainty in the estimate. For this reason, in this type of process it is recommended to continue monitoring over time in order to reduce uncertainties.

Synthesis

The work carried out allowed us to address and advance the study and application of the LEAP guidelines for the evaluation of one of the aspects of the environmental performance of livestock in the pastoral systems of the semiarid Chaco, such as the GHG emission.

The assessment of GHG emissions without evaluating other aspects, such as carbon capture and retention of the forest mass, can lead to erroneous conclusions about the environmental performance of these types of system.

One year is not enough to draw definitive conclusions about systems with particular characteristics, such as mountain livestock farming or intensive systems.

From a methodological point of view, there is a need to generate tools for field records that can be managed by producers, and to advance in the definition of models including factors that are typical of the region and the breeds used in the Chaco.

Another factor to take into account and deepen the analysis is the protein deficiencies of the animal diet of all the systems analyzed. This is perhaps one of the key points that, with low impact techniques, could be addressed to increase production efficiency and thus reduce emission intensity.

 “The experience helped me to keep track of what is happening in the farm and see what can be easily improved.”

Alejandro Paz, farmer, Argentina

“I see that grazing is important, but mountains contribute significantly to feed my animals in the tough times, when there is no grass or drought.”

Koki Caram, farmer, Argentina

About Redes Chacho

It is a network of networks established to increase the visibility of main issues and drive collective actions in the Gran Chaco in Argentina. It aims to contribute to the empowerment of citizens and to strengthen advocacy efforts to influence public policies.

Redes Chaco is linked to the territory, promoting the collaboration between different sectors from civil society and government, sharing experiences and information, and organizing collective actions to define strategies and mobilize resources to promote sustainable development.