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The purpose of this study was to conduct a comprehensive systematic review to identify feed additives, listed on Annex 1 of the European Union Register of Feed Additives, that have potential to reduce polluting emissions from livestock and to conduct a very simple meta-analysis of the collated data in order to identity the potential efficacy of these substances and agents. This study differs from the many other meta-analyses published in this general area in that it encompasses a broader range of environmental impacts and animal species within a single study than has occurred heretofore. The review identified 37 substances and agents offering benefits for 6 different potentially polluting emissions: gaseous releases of ammonia, methane, carbon dioxide, odours, and excretion of nitrogen and phosphorus for four animal groups: cattle, sheep, pigs and poultry. The meta-analysis showed that very considerable reductions in these emissions may be achievable, particularly in respect to ammonia and greenhouse gases. Estimates based on modest levels of usage in the European Union suggest that a reduction greater than 168 kt ammonia and 7100 kt methane could be achievable. However, in order to maximize these benefits regulators and the wider industry need to implement policies, processes and incentives to encourage greater uptake. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The agricultural sector contributes 9% towards total UK greenhouse gas emissions and so may offer significant potential as a sector to help meet national and international emission reduction targets. In order to help farmers manage their emissions and to encourage more sustainable farming, several carbon accounting tools are now available. This article describes a short study that selected five suitable tools and compared their performance on nine European arable farms, concentrating on the crop production components, to determine how useful they are for assisting in the development of site-specific mitigation strategies and how well they would perform within farm assurance or benchmarking schemes. The results were mixed, with some tools better designed for identifying mitigation opportunities than others. The results also showed that, quantitatively, the results are highly variable between tools and depended on the selected functional unit, this being highly important if the wider aspects of sustainability such as food security are to be considered. However, there is statistical consistency across the tools regarding the ranking order of the farms in terms of their emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Integrated crop management (ICM) balances the issues of profitability and sustainability with the need for concern for the environmental as a whole. As such, it requires sound decision-making based on detailed knowledge of the integrated nature of farming and how any single activity can impact on the business viability (short- and long-term) and on the environment. This paper reports the development and use ofa practical software package, Environmental Management for Agriculture (EMA), designed to support farmers, advisers and others in developing ICM practices. An exercise in technology transfer, the package uses a simple, but effective, technique relying on input data and information readily available on farm or stored in the system's databases.The paper explains how EMA can support ICM, provides an analysis of the identified user-groups and an insight into how the package is being used by these different groups. It also discusses advantages and disadvantages of using software tools in ICM decision making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]