In a New Zealand first, Fonterra will provide a unique emissions profile to each of its farmers from next spring.
The profile will help farmers understand the sources of greenhouse gas emissions on their farms and what action can be taken to cut them.
Research had shown farmers had a low understanding of emissions sources, with a study last year finding 98 per cent didn’t know their emissions and more than 40 per cent didn’t know how to mitigate them.
Fonterra’s director of on-farm excellence, Charlotte Rutherford, said a key part of reducing emissions was having a clear understanding of where things stood now.
“New Zealand farmers are already some of the most carbon efficient in the world,” she said.
“This has come about through significant research and investment, and a willingness and ability to adapt over time.
“We still have work to do so getting a clear baseline for each farm will be central to moving forward.”
Although the New Zealand dairy sector is one of the lowest emissions producers of milk in the world, the industry still contributes about 25 per cent of the country’s total greenhouse gas emissions.
Half of New Zealand’s GHG emissions come from agriculture and the dairy industry accounts for 46 per cent of total agricultural emissions.
Eighty-five per cent of dairying emissions are produced on-farm, 10 per cent during processing and the final 5 per cent through transport.
Fonterra’s farm emissions profiles would be made using modelling methods developed during a 113-farm pilot programme led by the co-op as part of the Dairy Action for Climate Change partnership.
Working with AgResearch, Fonterra used information provided by farmers in their annual Farm Dairy Records to estimate their greenhouse gas emissions.
More than 90 per cent of participants said the reports they received during the project improved their understanding of on-farm emissions.
The pilot had captured data from all farm systems, including family farms with a few hundred cows and corporate-run operations with thousands of animals, and Fonterra would now be able to estimate emissions for all its suppliers.
Ngāi Tahu Farming’s Te Whenua Hou dairy operation had taken part in the pilot and seen the benefits of the benchmarking it provided, general manager of dairy Shane Kelly said.
As well as lowering the stocking rate on the 6700-hectare operation, its eight dairy farms had improved per cow production and looked at the types of feed brought in.
“The report showed us where we’re at now with emissions and gave us an idea of what levers we can pull and what we can do to become carbon neutral and potentially carbon positive one day.”
The first unique farm reports would be sent to farmers in spring 2020.
The emissions profile would be provided at no cost and wouldn’t require farmers to provide any additional information or have a farm audit.
