Life cycle cost analysis of dairy production systems in Southern Brazil Clandio Favarini Ruviaro a, ⁎, Cristiane Maria de Leis b , Thiago José Florindo c , Giovanna Isabelle Bom de Medeiros Florindo c , Jaqueline Severino da Costa d , Walter Zhongzhong Tang e , Andrea Troller Pinto f , Sebastião Roberto Soares g a Federal University of Grande Dourados, Dourados CEP 79.804-970, Brazil b FoRC – Food Research Center, Chemical Engineering Dept., Polytechnic School, University of São Paulo, Main Campus, Brazil c Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul, Campus Chapadão do Sul, Rod. MS 306, km 105, Chapadão do Sul, MS, Brazil d Agroindustrial Management Department, Federal University of Lavras, Campus Universitário, Mailbox 3037, CEP 37200-000 Lavras, Minas Gerais, Brazil e Florida International University, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Miami, FL 33174, USA f Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Department of Preventive Veterinary, Av. Bento Gonçalves 9090, CEP 91540-000 Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil g Life Cycle Assessment Research Group (CICLOG), Department of Environmental and Sanitary Engineering, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Campus Universitário, Mailbox 476, Florianópolis CEP 88040-970, Brazil HIGHLIGHTS • National inventories are growing in Brazil. • Economic and environmental analysis accrue sustainable results. • Higher food efficiency system and greater profitability result smaller emissions. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT abstract article info Article history: Received 15 April 2020 Received in revised form 10 June 2020 Accepted 14 June 2020 Available online 17 June 2020 Editor: Jay Gan Keywords: Milk Intensification of production Economic Life cycle cost The intensification of milk production in Brazil in the past decade has imposed great stress on the environment. Therefore, it is very important to find a balance between economic, social, and environmental objectives. The paper assesses the economic costs by production systems: confined feedlot, semi-confined feedlot, and pasture in the south of the country. The economic assessment was realized on some investment analysis tools and the GHG emissions costs for the different production systems indicated. Our results show that hectare and the total area of rural properties were lower in the confined feedlot system, followed by the semi-confined feedlot system and pasture-based grazing system. However, the reduction of the need for feed inputs in the pasture sys- tem resulted in lower feeding costs when compared to the other systems. The hectare analysis suggested that the superior productivity of the semi-confined system conditioned higher emission costs in relation to the other sys- tems. However, considered the total emissions of the systems, the pasture system obtained higher values, justi- fied by the greater need for an area for production. The results showed that the higher the food efficiency of a system, the greater the profitability. © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Science of the Total Environment 741 (2020) 140273 ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: clandioruviaro@ufgd.edu.br (C.F. Ruviaro), Thiago.florindo@ufms.edu.br (T.J. Florindo), Jaqueline.s.costa@ufla.br (J.S. da Costa), tangz@fiu.edu (W.Z. Tang), Andrea.troller@ufrgs.br (A.T. Pinto), soares@ens.ufsc.br (S.R. Soares). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140273 0048-9697/© 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Science of the Total Environment journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/scitotenv