Environmental evaluation of UK sheep production systems based on high-resolution primary data

With the annual throughput of 14.6 million head, sheep farming contributes £2.4b each year to the UK economy and its existence is widely considered to be indispensable for provision of various ecosystem services. At the same time, sheep production is a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions and also a leading polluter of UK waterways. Contrary to the globally more prevalent view, the life-cycle carbon footprint of British lamb (as expressed in kg CO2e per kg meat) tends to be higher than that of British beef, further strengthening the need for rigorous assessment of the trade-off between the costs and benefits brought about to society by the sheep industry.

Existing studies on environmental impacts of sheep production systems are largely confined to low-resolution data (for example national aggregates) and therefore unable to offer insights about on-farm mechanisms regulating the economic and environmental trade-offs. To overcome this issue, the present project utilises high-resolution data and state-of-the-art facilities at Rothamsted Research’s North Wyke Farm Platform and carries out the world’s first life cycle assessment of sheep production systems that is based almost exclusively on primary data. At North Wyke, we have a committed and interdisciplinary supervisory team with international track record, and our group’s similar attempt for cattle production systems (http://www.rothamsted.ac.uk/news/advent-green-cattle) has recently attracted significant attention by scientists, farmers and media alike.

The project is primarily funded by the BBSRC South West Biosciences Doctoral Training Partnership (http://www.swbio.ac.uk), with the industrial internship supported by the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (http://www.ahdb.org.uk).