A new global competition is looking to unearth dairy on-farm sustainability and animal welfare innovations.
The #WeAreDairy competition is offering a $US10,000 prize for the best innovation.
The competition is being run by Diversey, which manufactures the Deosan range of dairy hygiene products, and industry consultants Promar International.
It is open to dairy farmers and farm managers from around the world, including in Australia.
Deosan Agricultural marketing director Rob Kelly said the aims of the award were simple.
"It is to share, publicise and recognise all of the brilliant actions that are being taken at dairy farm level to promote the sustainability of the land and improve animal welfare," he said.
"We are looking to share ideas so other people can follow and that we believe can have a huge benefit for the industry, for the land and for the animals."
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The entry process is simple - a farmer or farm manager just needs to describe any process, idea or product that has been developed on the farm and has a positive impact on animal welfare or sustainability.
The only restriction is that the positive impact cannot be the result of using a third-party commercial product.
Mr Kelly said ideas submitted for the competition would be shared across social media and in more detailed case studies.
Judging criteria includes:
- the cost of implementation and cost savings provided;
- the impact of implementation;
- the level of reach and applicability across the industry;
- the degree of ease and speed of implementation of the idea; and
- the level of innovation.
Mr Kelly gave an example of a United Kingdom dairy that had cut its hot water washing from twice a day to once a day, through the implementation of a different cleaning protocol.
This had allowed it to cut farm carbon emissions by 1.8 million tonnes. Applied across the whole UK industry, this would result in a cut of farm carbon emissions by 15,000 million tonnes.
Another example was a UK farmer who had used the heat generated from the animal bedding area to help heat the water for the dairy.
Award judges are:
- Alison Cox, Diversey agricultural global application specialist.
- Daniel Daggett, Diversey executive director of sustainability.
- Matt Sheehan, Promar International principal consultant.
Entries opened earlier in February and close at the end of August.
Five finalists will be announced in September and the overall winner will be announced in October.
To enter visit website www.wearedairy.com.
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Carlene Dowie
Carlene Dowie is the editor of the Australian Dairyfarmer magazine and has more than 30 years' experience as a rural journalist.
Carlene Dowie is the editor of the Australian Dairyfarmer magazine and has more than 30 years' experience as a rural journalist.
