Agri-footprint is the leading database dedicated to the agricultural and food sectors, providing consistent, high-quality data to measure food supply chain impacts, optimize bio-based processing, and conduct comprehensive environmental assessments. It is maintained by Mérieux Nutrisciences | Blonk.
The database is designed for strict conformity with international regulatory frameworks and statutory reporting mandates. It satisfies the core technical criteria governing corporate environmental declarations, aligning directly with ISO 14040/14044 standards for environmental management, the European Commission’s Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) directives, and legally recognized Product Category Rules (PEFCRs) for the feed, dairy, and pet-food sectors.
Database scope & coverage
Agri-footprint covers over 60 countries and includes:
~5,000 total life cycle processes
580+ crop cultivation datasets (incorporating land-use change, fertilizer, and pesticide impacts)
420+ market mixes based on national production and international import/trade statistics
Specialized data for animal production systems, animal feed ingredients (amino acids, minerals, vitamins), and intermediate bio-products.
What the datasets include (and exclude)
Agri-footprint tracks environmental impacts from the origin of the product up to the factory exit gate.
Included | Not Included |
Upstream crop cultivation and seed production | Downstream retail and distribution networks |
Chemical manufacturing & application (fertilizers, pesticides) | Consumer preparation and home refrigeration |
Energy and fuel production used in processing | Post-consumer waste treatment and disposal |
Intermediate transport up to the final factory gate | Product packaging (except pesticide-specific packaging) |
Background data & data origin
Agri-footprint specializes strictly in agricultural and food systems. Therefore, inputs not directly related to agricultural production—such as electricity, fuels, and industrial chemicals—are integrated as background data from the ecoinvent 3.10 database. Macro-level data like regional crop yields and trade configurations are sourced from public domains, including FAOstat and Eurostat.
How footprints are split (Allocation)
Many agricultural processes produce more than one output from a single input. For example, processing soybeans yields both soybean meal and soybean oil. Agri-footprint offers three different versions of its database depending on how you want to split the environmental footprint between those final products:
By Value / Money (Economic - Default): Splits the footprint based on the market price of the products. More expensive products take on a larger share of the environmental footprint. This is the standard choice for most corporate reporting.
By Weight (Mass): Splits the footprint based on how heavy the products are.
Crops: Calculated using the weight of the dry matter (excluding water).
Animal products: Calculated using the actual weight at the time of trade.
By Energy Content: Splits the footprint based on the caloric or energy value of the products (useful for processes where the energy content matters).
In Earthster
Mass configurations: Every Agri-footprint dataset containing mass has the property "Mass, wet" explicitly set to the scale unit value inside Earthster.