Location: CA-QC - Canada, Québec
This dataset represents the production of conventional milk from dairy cows, in Québec (Canada), in 2009-2011. The module includes the consumption of feed, and the operation of cattle housing systems for the management of the dairy herd and the production of cow milk. The functional unit is 1 kg of Fat and Protein Corrected Milk (FPCM) raw milk from Québec dairy farms. The FPCM correction is made for a conversion to a 4.0% fat and 3.3% true protein content, following the equation provided by the International Dairy Federation (IDF): FPCM (kg/yr) = Production (kg/yr) x [0.1226 x Fat% + 0.0776 x Protein% + 0.2534]. Live animals (culled cows and calves) sold for slaughterhing are by-products, as well as solid and liquid manure.
The average dairy farm in Québec produced 449400 L raw milk (at 4.06 kg/hL butterfat and 3.36 kg/hL protein), hence 469488 kg FCPM per farm. The average herd size over the year is: 57,7 milk cows (8137 kg FPCM/cow/year), 0.18 bulls, 0.39 young bulls, 1.11 veals male, 10.72 veals female, 12.56 bred heifers, 14.90 open heifers. Hence, the whole herd is worth 74 livestock units. 11 culled cows and 41 calves are sold for slaughter. The replacement rate is 32%. 91% of animals are housed in tie-stall systems, 9% in free-stall systems. With 6414 dairy farms, Québec milk production accounts for 38% of overall Canada production.
This dataset does not cover organic milk production in Quebec, which is marginal. 1.5% of overall Quebec dairy farms were organic-certified in 2010, and 1% of total milk produced in Québec in 2010 was organic milk (Fédération des Producteurs de lait du Québec; http://www.lait.org/en/interactive-faq/the-production.php). Furthermore, only 80% of organic milk ends up into organic-certified processed products (e.g. organic milk, yogurt, cheese)
Undefined unit processes (UPRs) are the unlinked, multi-product activity datasets that form the basis for all of the system models available in the ecoinvent database. This is the way the datasets are obtained and entered into the database by the data providers. These activity datasets are useful for investigating the environmental impacts of a specific activity (gate-to-gate), without regard to its upstream or downstream impacts.