Water Footprint of Livestock Farming

In recent times, society has been confronted with problems related to food safety and environmental protection. As a result, consumers are increasingly demanding an evolution towards the consumption of healthy products, produced within a framework of protection of natural resources and the environment. As a primary source of protein and micronutrients, meat products are considered essential elements of the human diet. In the search for products that meet the criteria of excellence of natural products produced in a sustainable way, the Community of Natural Parks of Galicia (Northwest Spain) is a territory recognized and protected as a region of magnificent landscapes and natural ecosystems. In this context, a framework for action has been planned to define environmental sustainability criteria for the award of a specific eco-label for products produced in these ecosystems. In particular, the sustainable use and economic development of the territory through livestock farming is proposed. To this aim, an environmental analysis has been carried out to identify and compare livestock systems based on extensive practices for beef production in the framework of the Galician Natural Parks. To this end, several environmental indicators were selected, although special attention was paid to two of them because of their particular relevance in assessing the environmental profile of livestock products: Carbon Footprint (CF) and Water Footprint (WF). The principles of the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) were applied by the former, while the Water Footprint Network (WFN) guidelines were followed in the latter case. According to the results obtained for the different indicators, feed production (including grass, cereals and concentrated feed) contributed significantly to the overall impacts of the supply chain (up to the farm gate), regardless the environmental indicator evaluated. Considering the key role played by the production of the various ingredients for the formulation of feeds and their associated transport, the need to promote more sustainable production methods, as well as the exploitation of agricultural land adjacent to the farms, should be stressed, so that the environmental impacts are even lower than those estimated in this study. In addition, diffuse emissions also had a significant impact on most LCA-based categories, mainly due to the emission of nitrogen compounds to air from manure storage and their application to agricultural soils. Similarly, water demand from both irrigation steps in cultivation practices and on-farm activities had a critical role in WF results. From these outcomes, it would be desirable for waste management (especially livestock manure) to be carried out in accordance with principles of minimum impact, valuing the different streams to obtain reclaimed water for irrigation and bio-fertilizers that can replace those of chemical synthesis. Finally, the main results were compared with published works (in terms of CF and WF ratios) focusing on beef products and lower environmental impacts were registered. On this basis, common criteria for eco-labelling in beef production systems were defined in the framework of the Galician natural areas.