Limiting grazing periods combined with proper housing can reduce nutrient losses from dairy systems

Pasture-based and grass-fed branding are often associated with consumer perceptions of improved human health, environmental performance and animal welfare. Here, to examine the impacts of dairy production in detail, we contrasted global observational (n = 156) data for nitrogen and phosphorus losses from land by the duration of outdoor livestock grazing in confined, grazed and hybrid systems. Observational nitrogen losses for confined systems were lowest on a productivity—but not area—basis. No differences were noted for phosphorus losses between the systems. Modelling of the three dairy systems in New Zealand, the United States and the Netherlands yielded similar results. We found insufficient evidence that grazed dairy systems have lower nutrient losses than confined ones, but trade-offs exist between systems at farm scale. The use of a hybrid system may allow for uniform distribution of stored excreta, controlled dietary intake, high productivity and mitigation of animal welfare issues arising from climatic extremes.