Wednesday, 06 November 2024 07:55

Sustainability dominates dairy summit

Written by  Tim Fulton
Attendees at the IDF Dairy Summit sample French cheeses in Paris last month. Attendees at the IDF Dairy Summit sample French cheeses in Paris last month.

To Kiwi ears, an international conference that talks about a "just and fair transition" to sustainable dairy sounds like a clarion call for better access to valuable markets. 'Just and fair' means more to the world than opening up borders to big exporters like NZ. Tim Fulton reports.

This year's International Dairy Federation (IDF) world summit in Paris covered innovations, best practice and responses to economic, social, geopolitical and climate crises.

The common denominator was 'carbon footprint'. Jean-Michel Javelle, president of French dairy co-operative, Sodiaal, said no agribusiness company or leader could now imagine building their operations or a strategy without "resilient supply chains".

Nor could they fail to address environmental issues: "financial and non-financial now go hand in hand."

Agriculture was intimately linked to ecosystem health and animal welfare, Javelle said.

Farmers felt climate change as much as anyone, seeing changes in growing seasons or damage from extreme weather, which disrupt cows' rumination and milk production.

Since 2019, Sodiaal had been working with farmers to measure the carbon footprint of their operations. The co-op used telemetrics in its trucks to reduce emissions and had launched more than 500 projects to cut emissions at processing sites. The aim was a 20% reduction in emissions by 2030.


Read More


Making change meant modifying herd diets, which represented a significant cost and a potential risk to agricultural yields.

To offset this, Sodiaal had introduced a "transitions platform" raising funds from clients, banks and other partners. "The dual objective is to reduce the environmental footprint while improving working conditions for farmers," Javelle said.

It was clear from IDF that the European Union will continue to 'support' its producers to meet emissions targets. Kiwis call it protectionism. Europeans call it maintaining a vibrant and competitive industry.

Pascal Le Brun, president of French milk producers association, CNIEL, said France was notable for the diversity of its agricultural models. This allowed it to adapt to the specific conditions of each region, from mountainous areas to fertile plains. On average, a French dairy farm had 70 cows and the country was unusual in Europe for relatively small herds over large areas.

Running a "polyculture-livestock model", many French farmers grew multiple crops and animals together at the same time. Le Brun said this model gave farmers greater autonomy in terms of feed, fertiliser and energy - creating good environmental and economic balance. However, French farmers had to be sure it would be effective in the face of climate change, especially water scarcity.

Modernisation of facilities, production and processing tools, particularly through robotization and the use of decision-support tools was essential.

The improvements would not only help address labour shortages but further reduce France's carbon footprint, Le Brun said.

Projections by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisatin and the OECD were for annual dairy consumption to rise by 1.4 to 1.8% over the next decade.

The rise would be sharpest outside of Europe, mainly in Africa and Asia, where rising purchasing power and changing dietary habits were growing demand.

More like this

AI helps detect lameness early

Dairy farmers can boost their reproduction success this mating season by prioritising hoof health and early lameness detection to keep cows in top condition and make the most of a promising forecast payout, according to agritech company Herd-i.

'Quite a journey'

Former Synlait chief executive Grant Watson says the past two years have been quite the journey.

DairyNZ levy to increase?

Retiring chair Jim van der Poel has used his final AGM to announce the intention to increase the DairyNZ farmer levy for the first time in the industry-good body's 17-year history.

Featured

The show is on!

It was bringing in a new Canterbury A&P Association (CAPA) show board, more in tune with the CAPA general committee, that has ensured that Christchurch will have a show this year, says CAPA general committee president Bryce Murray.

Forestry cuts into stock numbers

There is an urgent need for the Government to put a limit on the sale of farms for forestry - particularly for carbon farming.

Sustainability dominates dairy summit

To Kiwi ears, an international conference that talks about a "just and fair transition" to sustainable dairy sounds like a clarion call for better access to valuable markets. 'Just and fair' means more to the world than opening up borders to big exporters like NZ. Tim Fulton reports.

National

Meat sector unity

Farmers are welcoming potential collaboration between the country's two major meat processors.

Machinery & Products

Landpower increases its offering

Landpower and the Claas Harvest Centre network will launch the Claas Scorpion and Torion material handling solutions to the market…

New F5 balers from McHale

Irish grassland machinery manufacturer McHale has unveiled the new four-model range of F5 fixed chamber balers.

» Latest Print Issues Online

The Hound

Know-it-alls

OPINION: A reader recently had a shot at the various armchair critics that she judged to be more than a…

Mixed legacy

OPINION: You're never as good as when you're dead, and with due respect to Theo Spierings' family, the Hound can't…

» Connect with Rural News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter