The aims of this paper were to explore which factors explain (i) the direct emission of CO₂ from on-farm use of fuel to harvest forage and (ii) the costs of different harvesting management practices. Data on harvesting practices, CO₂ emission and forage costs were collected through farm visits on 184 dairy farms in all regions of Norway in 2017 and 2018. To analyze data, machine learning methods were used.

The findings show that forage harvesting capacity and forage yield are associated with CO₂ emissions from on-farm use of diesel fuel and harvesting costs. Factors that mitigate CO₂ emissions from harvesting coincide with factors that contribute to reduced harvesting costs. Thus the findings suggest a ‘win-to-win’ relationship between the interests of the farming business and environmental sustainability. The findings have implications for dairy farmers and policy makers.

本文的目的是探讨哪些因素可以解释（i）从农场使用燃料到收获草料的直接CO ₂排放，以及（ii）不同收获管理实践的成本。通过在2017年和2018年对挪威所有地区的184个奶牛场进行农场访问，收集了有关收割方法，CO ₂排放和饲料成本的数据。为了分析数据，我们使用了机器学习方法。

研究结果表明，草料的收获能力和草料产量与农场使用柴油和收获成本产生的CO ₂排放量有关。减少收获中的CO ₂排放的因素与有助于降低收获成本的因素是一致的。因此，研究结果表明了农业企业的利益与环境可持续性之间的“双赢”关系。该发现对奶农和政策制定者有影响。