Abstract
The production of milk must be balanced with the sustainable consumption of water resources to ensure the future sustainability of the global dairy industry. Thus, this review article aimed to collate and summarize the literature in the dairy water-usage domain. While green water use (e.g., rainfall) was found to be largest category of water use on both stall and pasture-based dairy farms, on-farm blue water (i.e., freshwater) may be much more susceptible to local water shortages due to the nature of its localized supply through rivers, lakes, or groundwater aquifers. Research related to freshwater use on dairy farms has focused on monitoring, modeling, and analyzing the parlor water use and free water intake of dairy cows. Parlor water use depends upon factors related to milk precooling, farm size, milking systems, farming systems, and washing practices. Dry matter intake is a prominent variable in explaining free water intake variability; however, due to the unavailability of accurate data, some studies have reported moving away from dry matter intake at the expense of prediction accuracy. Machine-learning algorithms have been shown to improve dairy water-prediction accuracy by 23%, which may allow for coarse model inputs without reducing accuracy. Accurate models of on-farm water use allow for an increased number of dairy farms to be used in water footprinting studies, as the need for physical metering equipment is mitigated.
Highlights
Of the global water supply, 97% is saline, and unsuitable for human consumption
They found that the random forest algorithm maximized the prediction accuracy of dairy-farm water consumption, resulting in an RPE value of 38%
Scientific studies related to the use of water on dairy farms were identified and reviewed with respect to water monitoring, modeling, and analysis, placing a specific focus on studies related to on-farm total water usage, parlor usage, and free water intake (FWI)
Summary
Of the global water supply, 97% is saline, and unsuitable for human consumption. Freshwater, encompassing the remaining 3%, represents earths most valuable natural resource, essential for human and animal consumption, agriculture, ensuring biodiversity and ecosystems, as well as offering hygiene services and a vital commodity used by industry [1]. Only 0.4% of the world’s total freshwater is readily available as surface water in rivers, lakes, and wetlands, with the vast majority embedded in glaciers, polar ice caps, or groundwater aquifers [2]. Water policy is an increasingly topical subject globally, with the introduction of the EU Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC) and EU Groundwater Directive (2006/118/EC) aiming to improve and protect the water quality of rivers, lakes, groundwater, and transitional coastal waters [3,4]. The EU Groundwater Directive states, “water is not a commercial product like any other but, rather, a heritage which must be protected, defended and treated as such”
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