Dairy Roadmap Will Improve Performance
Posted on: Thursday, 8 May 2008, 00:00 CDT
I n a bid to cut greenhouse-gas emissions and raise environmental standards, as well as build on the dairy sector's growing success, Defra has produced its Milk Roadmap, in conjunction with industry partners.
The draft document contains a set of short, medium and long-term actions aimed at improving the environmental performance of the dairy sector. The reduction of greenhouse gases is one of them, with farmers expected to reduce the balance of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide from dairy holdings by up to 30 per cent by 2020, based on 1990 statistics.
The dairy sector has also undertaken to boost the number of dairy farmers taking part in environmental stewardship schemes to 65 per cent, nutrient planning to 90 per cent and animal health plans to 95 per cent, enhancing their ecosystems, improving animal welfare and cutting emissions from soil and fertiliser.
Meanwhile, under the Milk Roadmap, dairies have committed to meeting, or beating, the energy and carbon dioxide reductions of the sector Climate Change Agreement, source more renewable energy, and cut energy and water use. And they have committed that half of all milk packaging will come from recycled material by 2020.
The Milk Roadmap was drawn up by a working group chaired by Dairy UK, with membership from across the milk supply chain including feed and fertiliser manufacturers, farming organisations, processors, retailers, packaging suppliers and consumers' organisations. It will be reviewed in September.
All the different organisations involved in it have agreed to undertake their own monitoring to ensure that the actions and targets remain meaningful and in sight. Targets are intended to be robust and achievable starting points for the sector to improve its overall environmental footprint, said Lord Rooker, the Minister for Food and Farming.
"Dairy products are enjoyed by almost everyone in the UK," he said. "There are very few households without a carton of milk in the fridge. The dairy industry has acted responsibly in the past to cut its environmental impact, and this Milk Roadmap provides a major new tool to achieve that. Delivering on the targets contained in the document will be a significant achievement. I welcome the dairy industry's collaborative approach in developing this plan of action."
Jim Begg, the director general of Dairy UK, said the dairy sector was "a forward-thinking and innovative industry" which recognised it had an important role to play in cutting the nation's "toll on the environment."
He stressed that the dairy companies had seized the challenge of the Milk Roadmap project from the start and had produced a series of very ambitious environmental targets for the sector.
He added: "It is a major opportunity for us to demonstrate that we are about more than just 'green wash'. I am proud of the measures that our industry has committed itself to, and proud that we are the first farming sector to draw up one of these ground-breaking roadmaps. I believe we are setting an important example to other sectors - and to the rest of the world."
The NFU, which has worked closely with Defra on the production of the Milk Roadmap, was concerned that its targets should in no way compromise the economic viability of dairy farming.
NFU dairy board chairman, Gwyn Jones, said: "In producing this Milk Roadmap we have tried to be ambitious, yet responsible, and have devised a set of targets that should be achievable for the industry, given the right support mechanisms from government and others. Profitability is the cornerstone of dairy farmers' ability to improve the environment and the Milk Roadmap is about improving environmental performance, without compromising productivity."
He stressed that the dairy industry had already come a long way in reducing its environmental impact. The sector's "Environmental Plan for Dairy Farming" was an example of the sector taking responsibility for addressing its environmental challenges, promoting integrated solutions to help farmers deliver improvements that make economic as well as environmental sense. The Milk Roadmap recognised the plan's success, and built on the wider achievements the industry had made, not least the cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.
Mr Jones added: "These reductions have been made in response to consumer demand, or because in many cases environmental savings result in efficiency and monetary gains. Farmers will respond to the need to go even further, but this is best achieved through incentives and voluntary initiatives. We recognise more can be done - and dairy farmers are increasingly taking responsibility for their environmental impacts. The targets set out in the Milk Roadmap demonstrate that commitment."
(c) 2008 Western Morning News, The Plymouth (UK). Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.
Source: Western Morning News, The Plymouth (UK)
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