Milk Matters
total GHG emissions.” GHG emissions from agriculture fall into three main gasses:
By Christine Pedersen
GHG Emission Gas
Resulting From
Senior Dairy Business Consultant
Carbon dioxide (CO2)
mainly a result of energy consumption (fuel and electricity)
christine.pedersen@thedairygroup.co.uk
Methane (CH4)
from enteric fermentation and manures
www.thedairygroup.co.uk
Nitrous oxide (N20)
from manures and soil
The Dairy Group
Looking back at my previous Feed Compounder columns, in May 2019 I wrote “for many, this spring has been the most challenging for a generation” – a sentiment that is probably equally applicable this spring. The continued cool dry weather has limited grass growth and held milk supply growth back compared to an average spring. The weather is dictating conversations on farm as discussions centre around the balance between grazing and first cut area. Producers that are now grazing land that was destined for silage and those expecting reduced first cut yields are planning to extend forages by purchasing forage replacers. Others are sourcing additional maize area as the high cost of cereals and straw at harvest is likely to make the option of taking combinable wheat or barley crops for wholecrop forage instead, less attractive. The volatile feed market coupled with the grazing and potential forage challenges mean that costs of production are likely to rise, even for those who secured compounds or straights forward. The rolling average UK Farm Gate milk price to March 21 was 28.9ppl compared to a range of 28.4 to 29.5ppl for the past 3 years. Our forecast based on current market prices and recently announced increases raises our latest November 2021 forecast to 30.7ppl. Globally milk supply is affected by the same conditions that are impacting UK supply growth, raising the prospects of tighter market conditions and upwards pressure on milk prices.
Net Zero
Whilst most industries focus on reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from fossil fuel combustion, a greater challenge for agriculture is to reduce methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) which are the two biggest sources of GHG from agriculture and are also more powerful and damaging than CO2. Carbon dioxide provides the ‘benchmark’ for measuring all GHGs’ damage which is referred to as CO2-e or carbon dioxide equivalent which is reported in a carbon footprint calculation. So where do we start? Our vision is that dairy producers will establish the carbon footprint of their businesses and then monitor ongoing progress. We will align our extensive database of farm financial performance to calculated carbon values and create carbon KPIs to link carbon output to existing metrics. Carbon KPIs will be used to analyse strengths and weaknesses and identify areas for businesses to focus on to achieve greatest benefit both financially and environmentally. Currently there are few milk contracts offering financial incentives to producers addressing GHG emissions but that is likely to change. As industry driven and government targets come into play, retailers and milk processors will scrutinise dairy farming’s place in the supply chain as they look to reduce GHG emissions. Our roadmap will help producers ‘buy-in’ to the concept as they recognise that reducing GHG emissions makes their own businesses more profitable and sustainable. From a dairy farm and feed compounder perspective, the two
A team of consultants from The Dairy Group has recently been
main areas of GHG emissions from UK dairy farms are feed sourcing
awarded a fellowship from The Trehane Trust to deliver a clear
(26%) and enteric methane (40%):
Net Zero roadmap for UK dairy farms. My colleague, Richard Lane, who led The Dairy Group’s bid comments: “The aim is to produce a clear ‘roadmap’ for UK dairy farmers to follow. The project will enable farmers to understand their farm’s current impact, identify and implement mitigation strategies and track progress by navigating roadmap recommendations, practically and profitably. We will investigate current research, innovation and best practice to identify a strategy to reduce emissions.” Richard goes on to say: “Net Zero is currently a hot topic in all industries and rightly so. Climate change driven by greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) is causing our climate to warm. Agriculture, including ruminant livestock, is a significant contributor to UK GHG
Source: AHDB Dairy
emissions; in 2017 GHG emissions from agriculture were 45.6 million
Feed sourcing emissions are associated with the growing,
tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent, approximately 10% of UK
storing, manufacturing, processing and transporting purchased
Page 16 May/June 2021 Feed Compounder
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