Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering Publications
Title
Comparison of the environmental footprint of the egg industry in the United States in 1960 and 2010
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2-2014
Journal or Book Title
Poultry Science
Volume
93
Issue
2
First Page
241
Last Page
255
DOI
10.3382/ps.2013-03390
Abstract
The US egg industry has evolved considerably over recent decades by incorporating new technologies and production practices. To date, there has been no comprehensive assessment of the resource demand and environmental effects of these changes. This study quantifies the environmental footprint of egg production supply chains in the United States for 2010 compared with 1960 using life cycle assessment. The analysis considers changes in both foreground (e.g., hen production performance) and background (e.g., efficiencies of energy provision, fertilizer production, production of feed inputs, and transport modes) system variables. The results revealed that feed efficiency, feed composition, and manure management are the 3 primary factors that determine the environmental impacts of US egg production. Further research and improvements in these areas will aid in continual reduction of the environmental footprint of the US egg industry over time. Per kilogram of eggs produced, the environmental footprint for 2010 is 65% lower in acidifying emissions, 71% lower in eutrophying emissions, 71% lower in greenhouse gas emissions, and 31% lower in cumulative energy demand compared with 1960. Table egg production was 30% higher in 2010; however, the total environmental footprint was 54% lower in acidifying emissions, 63% lower in eutrophying emissions, 63% lower in greenhouse gas emissions, and 13% lower in cumulative energy demand compared with 1960. Reductions in the environmental footprint over the 50-yr interval considered can be attributed to the following: 27 to 30% due to improved efficiencies of background systems, which outweighed the declining energy return on energy invested for primary energy sources; 30 to 44% due to changes in feed composition; and 28 to 43% due to improved bird performance.
Access
Open
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Copyright Owner
Poultry Science Association Inc.
Copyright Date
2014
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Pelletier, Nathan; Ibarburu, Maro A.; and Xin, Hongwei, "Comparison of the environmental footprint of the egg industry in the United States in 1960 and 2010" (2014). Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering Publications. 593.
https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/abe_eng_pubs/593
Included in
Agriculture Commons, Bioresource and Agricultural Engineering Commons, Poultry or Avian Science Commons
Comments
This article is from Poultry Science 93 (2014): 241–255, doi:10.3382/ps.2013-03390. Posted with permission.