Production Parameters and Carbon Footprint in Small‐Scale Dairy Farming in Boyacá, Colombia

ABSTRACT Cattle farming is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and plays a crucial role in food security, especially in developing countries and in systems that use part of the production for self‐consumption. However, it is not completely clear how production processes impact on the environment. This research aimed to analyse the generation of greenhouse gasses and associated production factors on small‐scale dairy farms in order to identify management strategies to reduce emissions. A quantitative, nonexperimental and correlational study was carried out on 50 farms whose main objective is milk production, located in three municipalities in the central area of the Department of Boyacá. The variables calculated included the percentage of milking females, efficiency per area, per year, per female, and animal load. Greenhouse gas emissions were estimated using life cycle assessment. Data were processed using RStudio, applying the Shapiro–Wilk test, Spearman correlation coefficient, and multiple linear regression analysis for the variables amenable to modeling. The results indicated the total carbon footprint ( 1.8 kg CO 2 eq/L), EFCF ( 0.06 kg CO 2 eq/L), MMCF ( 0.21 kg CO 2 eq/L), and SNFCF ( 1.53 kg CO 2 eq/L), with SNFCF identified as the major contributor to total CF. The variables of the percentage of cows in milking ( 41.3%) and stocking rate ( 2.37 GLU/ha) exhibited the highest correlation coefficients, particularly with EFCF and SNFCF. The potential for enhancing the environmental sustainability of dairy production through the adoption of efficient management practices concerning manure, soil, and animal components is evident.