open-climate.aiFactors

Emission factor from SLU v1.4.3

Cow milk, > 4% fat (inc. Channel Island milk) - Raw milk of cattle

France · Cradle to farm gate · Any year

Each kilogram of this food counts as 0.976 kg CO₂e before it leaves the farm: 0.066 for raw materials and inputs, 0.474 for enteric fermentation, 0.112 for manure management, 0.114 for soil emissions, 0.015 for land-use change, 0.167 for production energy and 0.0287 for capital goods amortization.

Value, cradle to farm gate

0.976kgCO₂e/kg

Net total: fossil, biogenic and land use · GWP100 · AR6

FossilBio CH₄Land useBio CO₂full carbon balance

One value, for any year

SLU sets no date window, so there is no year to pick.

Reference year 2021

Region
France FR
Boundary
Cradle to farm gate
Data quality
MediumRated by us, not by the source
Licence
Open · SLU terms

Where 0.976 comes from

Σ 0.976: the seven parts add up to SLU's published total.

Reporting this kilogram under the GHG Protocol

3.1 Goods we buy 0.976

Goods and services you buy are Scope 3, category 1, purchased goods and services.

CiteAPI

The factor, standardised

Every factor on open-climate.ai answers the same questions in the same words, whatever the publisher. Open any ⓘ for the definition.

Food and agriculture › Animal products · France · per kg · Average

Cradle to farm gate · Net total · AR6

Boundary
Cradle to farm gate
Raw materials, fuel combustion, purchased energy and capital goods
GWP method
IPCC AR6, 100-year horizon
As printed by SLU
CO₂e basis
Net totalFossilBio CH₄Land useBio CO₂full carbon balance
Split by gas
Life cycle
Upstream: coveredProduction: partly coveredDownstream: not coveredEnd of life: not covered

Medium quality · Open licence · Any year

Where the carbon comes from

SLU splits every value by the origin of its carbon. For cow milk, most of it is not fossil at all.

By carbon origin

Basis:net totalFossilBio CH₄Land useBio CO₂full carbon balance
Fossil
0.186
19.1%
Land-use change
0.015
1.5%

By gas

Methane (CH₄)
0.0306
3.1%
CH4_BIOGENIC
0.531
54.4%
Nitrous oxide (N₂O)
0.213
21.8%

What this number covers

The path of one kilogram of this food, from the farm to your kitchen. Every step on it is counted.

  1. Farm

    Growing the crops or raising the animals, with their feed and fertiliser

    Included0.066

  2. Farm

    Growing the crops or raising the animals, with their feed and fertiliser

    Included0.474

  3. Farm

    Growing the crops or raising the animals, with their feed and fertiliser

    Included0.112

  4. Farm

    Growing the crops or raising the animals, with their feed and fertiliser

    Included0.114

  5. Land-use change

    Included0.015

  6. Production energy

    Included0.167

  7. Capital goods amortization

    Included0.0287

Outside this boundary

  • Manufacturing
  • Packaging
  • Outbound transport
  • Retail
  • Use phase
  • Throwing away packaging and leftovers

= 0.976 per kg

From SLU's record to a comparable factor

SLU publishes this factor as one record with seven sub-lines. Here is each field as printed and what open-climate.ai made of it.

The total and its parts

Every gate and stage has its own page.

You are here · the totalCow milk, > 4% fat (inc. Channel Island milk), raw milk of cattle, cradle to farm gate0.976
Every value here is printed by SLU.

About this factor

Filed by SLU under

Dairy

SLU publishes no description for this food.

Source and licence

Publisher
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Department of Energy and Technology
Library
SLU v1.4.3
Record
A.08.01.001.001|FR
Published
3 September 2026
Open the record at SLU
SLU's terms of use Open

The values and their metadata are served in full and may be reused with credit to the publisher.

All model code is provided under the MIT license (https://github.com/SLU-foodsystems/safad).
Credit it with this lineSAFAD v1.4.3, Department of Energy and Technology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU); Röös et al. 2025, J. Cleaner Production 519, 146002
A plain reading of the licence, not legal advice. The licence text prevails.

Cite this factor

SAFAD v1.4.3, Department of Energy and Technology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU); Röös et al. 2025, J. Cleaner Production 519, 146002. Normalised by open-climate.ai, https://open-climate.ai/factors/libraries/slu/ (CC BY 4.0). https://open-climate.ai/factors/ef-slu-cow_milk_4_fat_inc-fr-kg-cradle_to_farm_gate-fe806a30/?v=efv1-645cbbf14f2a95acea6365cbc87aa57e

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