Sustainable Dairy Farming Approach by International Dairy Federation

In recent years, the International Dairy Federation (IDF) has actively put environmental concerns at the top of its priorities, through scientific research and a close dialogue with various stakeholders worldwide.

The objective is to work to satisfy the needs of the marketplace and to contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with the production, collection and processing of milk and delivery of dairy products. The global dairy industry has a shared interest with governments and the global community to produce nutritious food for today and for future generations in a sustainable way. IDF calls upon a supportive regulatory policy environment that recognizes the important economic, social and environmental contributions of the dairy industry. We hope that participants at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen will take decisions and provide a framework based on robust science to cut carbon emissions.

IDF collaborates with FAO on development of a quantification model for greenhouse gas emissions from animal food chains. The model is set to assist the dairy industry in its ongoing efforts and initiatives towards sustainability in the dairy chain. The study runs in parallel and is complementary to an ongoing IDF project to develop a standard methodology for carbon footprint for dairy products.

Practical Actions

• Undertaking and supporting research globally into methods for reducing the methane and nitrous oxide emissions from farming operations.
• Developing new technologies to improve energy efficiency on farms, particularly in relation to milk cooling, hot water production, milking machinery and water pumping as well as using renewable energy supplies on farm and in manufacturing plants.
• Increasing the efficiency of fertilizer use to reduce nitrous oxide emissions.
• Developing wastewater treatment technologies that capture methane from wastes and use the methane as an energy source.

As part of its continued contribution to help address global warming, IDF, on behalf of the signatories, launched the sustainability web portal on www.dairy-sustainability-initiative.org, a tool that shares information on various initiatives taken to empower the sustainability of the dairy industry. There are currently 260 initiatives from 40 countries in this catalogue, showcasing a wide range of efforts to tackle climate change by dairy farming and industry organizations, national and regional dairy associations, and companies throughout the dairy supply chain.

Source: International Dairy Federation