Environmental issues and sustainability in agriculture are critical topics that intersect both ecological health and food security. The world population will grow from 7.2 billion to 9.6 billion in 2050 (Gerber, 2013). Agriculture, especially livestock farming, contributes significantly to the release of methane and nitrous oxide, the two potent GHG that contribute to global warming (FAO, 2023).
Therefore, what should the animal production of the future look like? In the coming decades, Europe hopes to become carbon neutral; antibiotic use should be reduced and nutrient losses minimised. Sustainable agriculture should integrate high productivity and minimal environmental impact while feeding the growing world population (Payandeh et al., 2025). The layers are optimized to lay as many eggs as possible. In 2021, global egg production reached approximately 1.5 billion tons, with most eggs being produced in Asia. In Europe, over 366 million laying hens and 6.1 million metric tonnes of derived eggs have been estimated in 2020, and Italy represents one of the 4th largest producers, with 41 million hens and 0.79 million metric tonnes of eggs (Amicarelli et al., 2023).
Evaluating food production systems as a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions, which requires a comprehensive and complete method. Among livestock, the poultry sector shows lower environmental impact than other sectors due to its high feed efficiency. Hence, they are identified as relatively environmental-friendly. But they are still claimed due to GHG emissions, ammonia, particulate matter and etc. Sustainable egg production goes with high product value and lower impact and ethically acceptable production systems. Therefore, we aimed to use Life cycle assessment methodology to compare environmental impacts and production systems to ensure the sustainability of the farms. Hence, for our objective, we have collected data from six intensive layer farms and two pullet rearing farms. We planned to compare the impacts between,
1. Hyline brown and Lohman brown pullets raised in cage and floor systems,
2. White and brown breed egg layers raised in aviaries, along with comparisons.
Taking into account two scenarios
1. Substitution of feed (imported feed with locally available ones)
2. Yield (increase or decrease, taking farm data as a baseline)
