Research History

2000-2001 Lifecycle Assessment of the Dairy Industry in the Waikato Region - $41,000

The purpose of this study is to analyse the "total environmental impact" of the Dairy Industry in the Waikato Region. This involves not only on-farm impacts that have been the main focus of the sponsor (AgResearch), but also off-farm and down-stream impacts.

The main emphasis of the Environmental Accounting exercise involves quantifying both inputs of natural resources and outputs of pollutants, at each step of the production chain: Farming, Processing, Marketing, and Final Disposal. The project uses Input-Output analysis methods to calculate the indirect resource inputs and indirect pollutants. The project has been undertaken by Dr Murray Patterson in collaboration with an AgResearch team including Stewart Ledgard, Liz Wedderburn, John Finlayson and Andrew Caran.