Ahead of the upcoming release of Agri-footprint 8, we are taking a deeper dive into the database's methodological updates in a new article series.
Building on our recent overview of the expansion to 10,000+ datasets, this article explores what these changes mean for your footprint calculations, starting with the complete overhaul of our livestock models: dairy, beef, pig, and poultry.
In Agri-footprint 8, the entire livestock portfolio has been fully aligned with the 2019 IPCC Refinements to the 2006 IPCC Guidelines, supplemented by emission frameworks from EMEP/EEA 2019 and sector-specific guidance from FAO LEAP.
To ensure your livestock lifecycle assessments remain robust and scientifically grounded, Agri-footprint 8 introduces four important improvements:
All direct and indirect nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions, as well as methane (CH4) conversion factors, feature updated IPCC 2019 parameters categorized by regional herd productivity levels. Alongside this, air pollutants, including NH3 and NOx volatilization, NMVOC, and dust emissions, are now explicitly calculated across all animal categories using advanced EMEP/EEA 2019 Tier 2 factors based on available TAN.
Animal production systems in Agri-footprint 8 has been re-engineered using stage-based modeling. Stage-by-stage granularity provides a much more accurate reflection of real-world animal supply chains, capturing the distinct shifts in feed intake, enteric fermentation, and manure management that occur as an animal moves through different life phases. For example, poultry systems incorporate FAO LEAP guidelines, dividing production into four distinct stages: breeding, hatching, growing, and laying.
Beef systems in Agri-footprint 8 have been expanded with production specific variations covering production in Belgium, France, Italy, and Ireland. Users can now differentiate between varying levels of production intensity, such as extensive pasture-based grazing versus intensive feedlot finishing.
All background process dependencies (utilities, fuel, transport) have been updated to ecoinvent v3.12, and animal compound feed rations reflect updated regional feed ingredient mixes.
Agri-footprint 8 introduces 107 newly added farm-level processes across livestock supply chains. The update include an expansion of European beef and cattle farming systems (adding detailed suckler, fattening, and breeder-fattener stages). Additionally, the stage-by-stage modelling introduces breeding and rearing piglet datasets across the covered regions, and expanded poultry and egg production models.
Beef & cattle: 66 newly introduced farm-level processes providing detailed coverage of rearing, fattening, suckler extensive/intensive, and breeder-fattener systems across Belgium, France, Italy, and Ireland.
Pig & swine: 30 new farm-level datasets introducing dedicated rearing piglet, breeding sow, and replacement sow models across ten primary production regions (BE, BR, DE, DK, ES, FR, GB, NL, RER, US).
Poultry (incl. broilers & eggs): 10 new farm-level datasets introducing specialized egg loss processes across eight global markets alongside US egg production models under wet and dry manure management.
Dairy: 1 new farm-level dataset expanding calf fattening coverage (Dairy calves 1-2 year finished, fattening intensive, at farm {DE}), alongside 40 existing baseline farm processes for raw milk and herd modeling.
Explore the animal systems included in Agri-footprint 8 below.
Click on each animal system category to expand and view individual farm-level processes (excluding processing datasets), and compare the Agri-footprint 7 baseline models with newly added Agri-footprint 8 datasets.
In earlier versions of Agri-footprint, calculating the footprint of animal products required navigating intermediate housing datasets that aggregated animal performance with farm infrastructure.
In Agri-footprint 8, livestock systems are divided into clear, standalone operational stages (e.g., separating sow breeding from pig fattening, or pullet rearing from egg laying).
For example, when calculating the impact of Pig fattening (at farm):
Previous approach
calculating the footprint of a fattening pig meant navigating abstract "housing system" intermediate processes. Feed, energy, and the animal itself were aggregated into this housing unit before being passed to the final fattening stage. Emissions were tied to general housing unit allocations, often overestimating or underestimating specific nitrogen and volatile solid excretions based on static regional averages.
Agri-footprint 8 approach
we simplified this the modelling using a stage-based approach. Explicit animal life-stages (such as "Rearing piglet" and "Pig fattening") now output direct animal impacts per functional unit. Utilities, feed, water, and the animals themselves are seamlessly combined within the specific functional stage, giving you a transparent view of the system without having to untangle housing systems. The system calculates a complete mass balance of nitrogen (N) and volatile solids (VS) based on actual feed intake, digestible energy, and crude protein. Tier 2 models track Total Ammoniacal Nitrogen (TAN) through each specific housing type and manure management system (e.g., pit storage, deep bedding, or outdoor lagoons).
Compare farm operations against region-specific baselines or evaluate livestock impacts against non-meat alternatives based on th recent, international methodologies.
Accurately account for dairy, meat, and secondary livestock ingredients in complex food product LCAs and Scope 3 reporting.
Ensure your Scope 3 calculations use scientifically rigorous, up-to-date methodologies (IPCC 2019 and EMEP/EEA 2019) that auditors require for international reporting standards.
The livestock update in Agri-footprint 8 are driven by Mérieux NutriSciences | Blonk’s specialized LCI calculation engines. Built as modular components within the Data Generation Pipeline, these standalone life cycle engines handle the Tier 1 and Tier 2 IPCC 2019 modeling across swine, poultry, dairy, and beef production.
While these engines serve as the core calculation backbone for Agri-footprint 8, their modular setup allows them to run independently. They already power dedicated environmental accounting software, including dsm-firmenich’s Sustell™ platform, and can be connected via API to run farm-level or supply-chain LCA calculations inside external third-party applications.
Whether you are performing scope 3 accounting, preparing audit-ready product LCAs, or evaluating localized air and water impacts across your supply chain, Agri-footprint 8 delivers the up-to-date secondary data you need.
Get in touch with Rory to explore how Agri-footprint 8 and the overhauled animal systems methodology can elevate your footprinting and LCA work.