AMES, Iowa -- Sustainability is more than a buzzword for pork producers. It offers a focus to set new goals and standards in their operations, and consequently, the swine industry as a whole. Improving sustainability of pork production involves fully understanding how the environment and production practices interact, and the use of a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) helps provide that information.

A new fact sheet from Iowa Pork Industry Center, Sustainability in the Swine Industry: Understanding the Life Cycle Assessment, looks at three LCAs that have been created for the US swine industry. Lead author and graduate research assistant Erika Johnson said the LCAs focus on carbon emissions, land occupation and water usage.

"An LCA is a holistic approach to analyzing the cumulative environmental impacts of different phases of swine production, and doing so in a manner that’s easily understood by producers and consumers," she said. "The overall footprint estimated for a 4-oz. serving of pork is 2.48 lb. of carbon dioxide, 9.75 sq. ft. of land per year, 8.2 gal. of water."

Lance Baumgard, animal science professor, and Jason Ross, animal science professor  and Iowa Pork Industry Center director, are the other authors of this fact sheet available from the ISU extension store as a free download.

Johnson also developed a spreadsheet tool for producers to evaluate and estimate impacts of different levels of efficiency on environmental emissions.

"The Wean-to-Finish Pork Sustainability Calculator allows producers to understand how specific improvements in finishing can influence the environmental footprint of that barn," she said. "They can change production parameters such as mortality and feed efficiency, and see the effect of those changes."

You can download the calculator at no charge from the IPIC website.

This Excel-based calculator provides changes in percentages and weight of carbon dioxide based on baseline and target values entered by the user. It offers insight into the level of greenhouse gas production at the individual barn level to enable continuous improvement, and can be used at any time to gauge potential change implications.

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IPIC was established in 1994 as a coordinated effort of the colleges of Agriculture (now Agriculture and Life Sciences) and Veterinary Medicine at ISU. Its mission is to promote efficient pork production technologies in Iowa, maintain Iowa's pork industry leadership and strengthen rural development efforts. IPIC focuses its efforts on programs that are integral and complementary to ISU Extension and Outreach. Through IPIC, Iowa producers receive accurate and timely information to make their operations more efficient and profitable.