TY - JOUR
T1 - Using the SMART-Farm Tool to identify linchpin farming practices for the improvement of the atmosphere-related sustainability performance of the Luxembourgish agriculture sector
AU - Stoll, Evelyne
AU - Keßler, Sabine
AU - Leimbrock-Rosch, Laura
AU - Bohn, Torsten
AU - Reckinger, Rachel
AU - Schader, Christian
AU - Herzig, Christian
AU - Zimmer, Stéphanie
N1 - Funding:
This paper is based on data from the “SustEATable– Integrated
analysis of dietary patterns and agricultural practices for sustainable
food systems in Luxembourg” project, financed by the Ministry of the
Environment, Climate and Biodiversity of the Grand-Duchy of
Luxembourg (reference number PP/474/18) and by Oeuvre Nationale
de Secours Grande-Duchesse Charlotte (reference number
2018AIDO29). The project also received financial support from
OIKOPOLIS S.A., BIOGROS S.A and private donations
Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2025/11
Y1 - 2025/11
N2 - Agriculture is a major source of environmental emissions, including greenhouse gases (GHG), ammonia and other air pollutant emissions, particularly in livestock-intensive countries such as Luxembourg. Organic agriculture has attracted attention as a more environmentally friendly agricultural management system. This study assessed the atmosphere-related sustainability performance of 87 farms (4.5 % of all farms in Luxembourg) using the Sustainability Monitoring and Assessment RouTine (SMART)-Farm Tool, which operationalizes the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO)'s Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture Systems (SAFA) Guidelines. The sample included 58 conventional and 29 organic farms. Results showed that organically managed farms (orgF) achieved significantly higher sustainability scores than conventional farms (conF) in the Atmosphere theme (orgF mean: 63.8 %, conF mean: 56.6 %, p < 0.001), as well as in the sub-themes Air Quality (orgF mean: 69.3 %, conF mean: 59.1 %, p < 0.001) and Greenhouse Gases (orgF mean: 57.7 %, conF mean: 53.5 %, p = 0.002). Indicator-level analysis identified two key improvement strategies: (1) increasing concentrated feed autarky, with organic farms relying less on external protein and energy feeds; and (2) closing nutrient cycles, evidenced by higher use of legumes, green cover, and lower nitrogen inputs. These practices were strongly associated with improved atmospheric sustainability performance. Additionally, practices such as reduced tillage and cover cropping were underutilized across all systems, indicating broader areas for optimisation. While organic management outperformed conventional, the findings emphasize that many beneficial practices can be adopted system-independently. Policy efforts should focus on supporting these two linchpin strategies to trigger the development of a more sustainable farming system in Luxembourg and increase the sector's atmosphere-related sustainability performance.
AB - Agriculture is a major source of environmental emissions, including greenhouse gases (GHG), ammonia and other air pollutant emissions, particularly in livestock-intensive countries such as Luxembourg. Organic agriculture has attracted attention as a more environmentally friendly agricultural management system. This study assessed the atmosphere-related sustainability performance of 87 farms (4.5 % of all farms in Luxembourg) using the Sustainability Monitoring and Assessment RouTine (SMART)-Farm Tool, which operationalizes the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO)'s Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture Systems (SAFA) Guidelines. The sample included 58 conventional and 29 organic farms. Results showed that organically managed farms (orgF) achieved significantly higher sustainability scores than conventional farms (conF) in the Atmosphere theme (orgF mean: 63.8 %, conF mean: 56.6 %, p < 0.001), as well as in the sub-themes Air Quality (orgF mean: 69.3 %, conF mean: 59.1 %, p < 0.001) and Greenhouse Gases (orgF mean: 57.7 %, conF mean: 53.5 %, p = 0.002). Indicator-level analysis identified two key improvement strategies: (1) increasing concentrated feed autarky, with organic farms relying less on external protein and energy feeds; and (2) closing nutrient cycles, evidenced by higher use of legumes, green cover, and lower nitrogen inputs. These practices were strongly associated with improved atmospheric sustainability performance. Additionally, practices such as reduced tillage and cover cropping were underutilized across all systems, indicating broader areas for optimisation. While organic management outperformed conventional, the findings emphasize that many beneficial practices can be adopted system-independently. Policy efforts should focus on supporting these two linchpin strategies to trigger the development of a more sustainable farming system in Luxembourg and increase the sector's atmosphere-related sustainability performance.
KW - Air quality
KW - Greenhouse gases
KW - Luxembourg
KW - Organic agriculture
KW - SMART-Farm tool
KW - Sustainability performance
KW - Greenhouse Gases
KW - Farms
KW - Atmosphere
KW - Air Pollutants
KW - Agriculture/methods
KW - Air Pollution
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105017118017
UR - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41016311/
U2 - 10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.127426
DO - 10.1016/j.jenvman.2025.127426
M3 - Article
C2 - 41016311
AN - SCOPUS:105017118017
SN - 0301-4797
VL - 394
JO - Journal of Environmental Management
JF - Journal of Environmental Management
M1 - 127426
ER -