Sustainable Modern Agriculture and the Environment

Flashcards covering the ecological impact, land and water usage, ethical considerations, and technological advancements in modern sustainable agriculture based on the provided lecture notes.

The 'Nexus'

The United Nations term for the interlinked sustainable development of food, energy, and water.

2050 Food Production Goal

The requirement to increase food production by $50\%$ by the year $2050$ to meet expanding population demands.

Global Land Surface: Habitable Land

The portion of the Earth's land surface that is considered habitable, totaling $71\%$ or $104$ Million $km^2$.

Agricultural Land Use for Livestock

The percentage of global agricultural land dedicated to livestock (meat and dairy), which accounts for $77\%$, despite providing only $18\%$ of global calories.

Livestock Slaughter Statistics

Approximately $80$ billion animals are slaughtered each year for meat globally.

Lamb & Mutton Land Use

The global average land use required to produce one kilogram of lamb and mutton, measured at $369.81\,m^2$.

Beef (beef herd) Land Use

The global average land use required to produce one kilogram of beef from a beef herd, measured at $326.21\,m^2$.

Matilda

The name of Australia's first cloned sheep.

Bobby calves

Often referred to as 'excess' dairy calves; they are a by-product of the dairy industry.

Rose Veal

Meat produced from calves approximately $30$ weeks old; these calves must be a minimum of $4$ days old before they can be transported off-farm.

Male layer chicks

An industry surplus of approximately $3$ million chicks annually in NZ, disposed of at one day old via maceration or $CO_2$ gassing.

Precision Agriculture

The use of technology such as robots, sensors, imaging, AI, GPS, and accelerometry to improve farming efficiency.

Global Freshwater Withdrawals

The percentage of annual global freshwater withdrawals accounted for by agriculture, which is approximately $70\%$.

Global Eutrophication

The process where $78\%$ of global ocean and freshwater enrichment by nutrients originates from agriculture.

Fenix hyperspectral imaging system

A technology used to produce nitrogen concentration, Dry Matter ($\%$), and metabolisable energy maps for precision agriculture.

Side Window Recycler (SWR)

A technology that captures water vapour escaping through greenhouse side windows to recycle it into irrigation water, potentially boosting yields by $120\%$.

Enteric fermentation

Methane emissions produced from the digestion process of cattle.

Food Production GHG Emissions

Food accounts for $26\%$ of global greenhouse gas emissions ($52.3$ billion tonnes of $CO_2$-equivalents).

New Zealand Per Capita Methane

New Zealand has the highest per capita methane emissions among compared countries, measured in tonnes of $CO_2$-equivalents per person per year.

Non-ruminant Livestock Emissions

Pigs and poultry are non-ruminants and do not produce methane, resulting in significantly lower emissions than beef and lamb.