This report by the FAO (2009) takes as its starting point that the IPCC’s Fourth Assessment Report finding that agriculture worldwide emits 5-6 GT CO2 eq a year, equivalent to 10-12% of global GHG emissions (the figure does not include land use change. The IPCC made four key recommendations on how agriculture could mitigate GHG emissions covering the areas of: crop rotations and farming system design; nutrient and manure management; livestock management, pasture and fodder supply improvement;

This Swedish study by Christel Cederberg and Berit Mattsson, Department of Applied Environmental Sciences, Göteborg University, Sweden, (Journal of Cleaner Production 8 (2000) 49–60) compared organic and conventional dairy production. It concluded that the organic sysem generated slightly fewer GHG emissions than the conventional.

The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy has written a series of six issue papers on different aspects of the role of agriculture in responding to the global climate crises. These papers collectively call for an integrated framework for climate change policy that emphasizes the unique role agriculture plays in the world. The papers cover the following issues: Paper 1: the link between agriculture and climate change – how agriculture impacts and how it is impacted by CC.

This briefing by the European Environment Agency outlines the merits and examines some of the environmental demerits of increasing biomass use. The paper concludes that there is sufficient biomass potential in the EU-25 to support ambitious renewable energy targets in an environmentally responsible way but that achieving these gains and minimising the potential environmental downsides of bioenergy production requires careful planning from EU to local level. The report does not specifically address the socio-economic or policy aspects of the issue.

Also of interest is an Irish study which looks at greenhouse gas emissions from Irish dairy systems: Casey J.W. and Holden N.M. Analysis of greenhouse gas emissions from the average Irish milk production system, Agricultural Systems 86 (2005) 97–114

This is taken from the always useful scidev.net. A global research alliance that aims to produce more food for the world's growing population while reducing carbon emissions from agriculture has laid out its plans. The Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases - launched at the Copenhagen climate summit in December - held its first meeting in Wellington, New Zealand, in April 2010, with 28 of the 29 member states in attendance.