Fonterra studies dairy omissions

Fonterra  announced the results of its Carbon Footprint study, which will be used to drive further efficiencies and help cut greenhouse gases.The Chairman of Fonterra's Sustainability Leadership Team, Barry Harris, said the completion of the 18 month-long project gave the company an accurate picture of the greenhouse gas emissions of its major dairy ingredient and consumer products sourced from NZ."By measuring the carbon footprint of our products from the cows to our customers, we can understand precisely where the emissions sit in the supply chain and more effectively target our efforts reduce them," Mr Harris said. Key findings of the research are:The carbon footprint was 940g of CO2 equivalent per litre of liquid milk. Around 85% of the greenhouse gases are emitted on the farm (59% of these are methane, 17% are carbon dioxide, and 24% are nitrous oxide). Processing/manufacturing accounts for 10% of total emissions. Distribution accounts for 5% of total emissions Products requiring larger quantities of milk have a larger carbon footprint. Mr Harris said completion of the study is also an important step towards getting carbon footprint measuring methodology agreed with key international dairy organisations and producers so that the dairy sector globally can contribute to reducing climate change. "It's well known that NZ's greenhouse gas profile is heavily influenced by agricultural emissions and this research confirms that. It also confirms that our best opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and our carbon footprint lie in continued efforts to develop practical tools and techniques for farmers to adopt. That's important because farmers are fast adopters if we put the right tools in their hands "“ a good example being nutrient budgets which are now being used by 98% of farmers, whereas six years ago only one in five farmers used them. "Through the NZ Pastoral Greenhouse Gas Research Consortium, Fonterra is working alongside the Government and other agricultural groups to research and discover innovative ways to reduce the production of methane and nitrous oxide from agricultural activities. The agricultural sector has already managed to achieve reductions in GHG emissions by farming animals more efficiently. Incremental improvements in the quality of NZ herds have already reduced on-farm emissions per kg of milksolids produced by about 1% per year since 1990. Possible solutions to further reducing methane production range from changing the mix of microbes in the rumen of cattle, to altering diets and selective livestock breeding.