Should I include dead animals in the number of “sold” animals in the herd section?
No, dead animals should not be included under sold animals, as otherwise the GHG footprint would be underestimated. Dead animals did consume feed and emit GHG emissions during their live, but are not producing meat, because dead animals are not used for consumption but incinerated. If they would be included under sold animals, more of the emissions would be allocated to that part and the footprint of milk/meat would be too low. Improved herd management with less dead animals is in that way also a mitigation option, as the overall footprint will be lower because more milk/meat is produced with the same inputs.
Related Articles
How do I consider animals that are sold within the same year?
Cool Farm Tool determines feed demand, enteric fermentation, manure, etc. for 365 days for each animal entered in the herd section tab. Therefore, it is important to consider the time animals spend on the farm when calculating the average number of ...
The herd section asks me for average numbers for animals on farm, but actual numbers for purchased/sold animals. Why is that?
For the animals on farm, the Cool Farm Tool works on a whole year basis and so we are trying to calculate on average how much manure and methane is produced by these animals in a year. If the animals are only present for half the year, you only want ...
What should I do if I have a herd that is used for meat and milk production?
Please use the dairy pathway and adjust the weights of the different animal categories in the ‘herd’ tab to show the correct live weight added. The beef carbon footprint is not directly available, but it can be derived from the graph at the end of ...
When we choose crop trees does that include the above and below ground biomass, or should I add the number of crop trees and it's diameter again in the biomass section?
The biomass of crop trees in the annual existing CFT module is not automatically included, this needs to be added in the biomass section. You should only account for crop biomass if the biomass is permanent and additional.
Cool Farm Tool User Guide- Livestock (Beef & Dairy)
Find attached our Cool Farm Tool User Guide for Livestock (Beef & Dairy).