Direct soil emissions were mainly related to N2O, whereas CH4 uptake had marginal influence (net soil C uptake or release was not considered). The simulated N2O emissions appeared to be highly correlated to N fertilizer application (R2 = 0.79). The emission factor for Baden-Württemberg was 0.97 % of the applied N after excluding background emissions.
Analysis of the production systems showed that total GHG emissions from crop based production systems were considerably lower (2.6–3.4 Mg CO2 eq ha−1) than from livestock based systems (5.2–5.3 Mg CO2 eq ha−1). Average production system GHG emissions for Baden-Württemberg were 4.5 Mg CO2 eq ha−1. Of the total 38 % were derived from N2O (direct and indirect soil emissions, and manure storage), 40 % were from CH4 (enteric fermentation and manure storage), and 22 % were from CO2 (mainly fertilizer production, gasoline, heating, and additional feed). The stocking rate was highly correlated (R2 = 0.85) to the total production system GHG emissions and appears to be a useful indicator of regional emission levels.