“BalSim”: A Carbon, Nitrogen and Greenhouse Gas Mass Balance Model for Pastures

Animal production systems are increasingly required to co-produce meat products and other ecosystem services. Sown biodiverse pastures (SBP) were developed in Portugal as an improvement over semi-natural pastures (SNP). SBP increase yields and animal intake during grazing, are substantial carbon sinks, and the abundance of legumes in the mixtures provides plants with a biological source of nitrogen. However, the data available and the data demands of most models make integrated modelling of these effects difficult. Here, we developed “BalSim”, a mass balance approach for the estimation of carbon and nitrogen flows and the direct greenhouse gas (GHG) balance of the two production systems. Results show that, on average, the on-farm GHG balance is −2.6 and 0.8 t CO₂e/ha.yr for SBP and SNP, respectively. Ignoring the effects of carbon sequestration, and taking into account only non-CO₂ emissions, the systems are responsible for 17.0 and 16.3 kg CO₂e/kg live weight.yr. The annual analysis showed that non-CO₂ emissions were highest in a drought year due to decreased yield and stocking rate. We also showed through scenario analysis that matching the grazing level to the yield is crucial to minimize emissions and ensure reduced feed supplementation while maintaining high soil carbon stocks.