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CONCEPTUAL ANALYSIS article

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.
Sec. Agricultural and Food Economics
Volume 9 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fsufs.2025.1491973

DESTiny, an Online Farm-Wide Tool to Estimate the Net Carbon Emissions of a Pasture-Based Dairy Farm in South Africa

Provisionally accepted
Riana Reinecke Riana Reinecke 1,2*James Blignaut James Blignaut 1,2,3Heinz MEISSNER Heinz MEISSNER 4Pieter Swanepoel Pieter Swanepoel 2
  • 1 ASSET Research, Sedgefield, South Africa
  • 2 Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, Western Cape, South Africa
  • 3 South African Environmental Observation Network (SAEON), Pretoria, South Africa
  • 4 Milk South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The dairy farming industry is an important contributor to both South Africa's economy and food security. However, dairy in South Africa, like elsewhere in the world, has come under scrutiny because of animal welfare concerns and contributions to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. To address GHG mitigation, we have constructed a farm-level system dynamics model to assess both the emissions, and capture and storage of carbon (C) on farms, to determine whether farms are net emitters of C (i.e. sources) or sequestrators (i.e. sinks). We have considered nutrient flows, the type and volume of feed, the effluent management system, various parameters relating to the herd dynamics, and the overall effect on the farm economy. The resulting online Dairy Environment Sustainability Tool (DESTiny) can help dairy farmers adopt sustainable practices, as well as improve competitiveness and financial sustainability while reducing the farm’s emissions profile, thereby building value-chain and consumer trust. DESTiny can be considered a science-informed evidence-based tool for estimating, monitoring and understanding nutrient and C flows in dairy production systems. It is also a web-based tool (see https://assetresearch.org.za/destiny-tool/) with a user-interface which allows remote users, researchers, practitioners, farmers and technicians ease of access while integrating the system dynamics models with on-farm realities.

    Keywords: sustainable dairy1, system dynamics2, DESTiny3, carbon sinks4, Carbon emissions5, nutrient flows6, South Africa

    Received: 05 Sep 2024; Accepted: 13 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Reinecke, Blignaut, MEISSNER and Swanepoel. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Riana Reinecke, ASSET Research, Sedgefield, South Africa

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.