To maintain its place as a preferred supplier of nutritious dairy products, the Australian dairy industry needs to demonstrate action to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
"Markets, investors and communities expect agrifood industries, especially livestock-based industries, to play their part in reducing emissions to help the world keep global warming to under two degrees," Dairy Australia's national lead for climate and energy Elissa McNamara said.
"Most processors are required by regulation to report their GHG emissions, and suppliers need to demonstrate that they are doing what they can to reduce emissions.
"Investors also want evidence of activities to reduce emissions and help limit global warming."
The Australian dairy industry is committed to undertaking action to reduce its emissions across the whole supply chain.
The industry's goal is a 30 per cent reduction in emissions intensity by 2030, from a 2015 baseline.
Evidence of the industry's commitment is reported each year through the Australian dairy industry Sustainability Framework Report.
The Australian Dairy Carbon Calculator (ADCC) helps farmers calculate the effect of different GHG emissions abatement strategies on total farm emissions.
It estimates carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide emissions of a dairy enterprise and was updated in late 2022.
Farmers enter data into the ADCC about their whole farm system components, such as milk production, annual diet intake of milkers, fertilisers, energy consumption and manure management.
The calculator then determines the emissions baseline and helps farmers explore how diet, herd or feedbase management, fertiliser and renewable energy can affect their GHG emissions.
Farmers can benchmark their GHG emissions against others and work out GHG emission reduction strategies that are best suited to their farming system.
To calculate their carbon footprint, farmers can either answer a few additional questions in DairyBase or use a standalone spreadsheet.
Both methods perform the same calculations and identify areas for improvement.
"We all need to do what we can to reduce GHG emissions and limit global warming," Ms McNamara said.
"Identifying baseline GHG emission levels on farm is an important first step to taking profitable action."
Currently, fewer than 20 per cent of dairy farmers have calculated their carbon footprint.
In early 2023 a pilot program will begin in Western Australia to understand barriers for using the carbon calculator, how to overcome these and how to support farmers to know and understand their carbon footprint.
The 2022 updates to the calculator reflect global changes to the methodology developed by the International Dairy Federation (IDF). See the Dairy Australia website for more information about the ADCC.
The ADCC has been developed by the University of Tasmania, University of Melbourne, the Victorian Department of Environment and Primary Industries and funded by the Australian Department of Agriculture, Dairy Australia, Meat and Livestock Australia and Australian Wool Innovation.
Committed to sustainability
The dairy industry has a 10-year history of proactively addressing environmental and climate issues, evidenced by the industry's Sustainability Framework.
30 ways Australian Dairy Industry is tackling Climate Change, available on the Dairy Australia website, is a useful reference to existing industry practices that reduce GHG emissions.
Dairy Australia is also working with the wider industry to meet industry targets for reducing GHG emissions. Dairy Australia's Climate Commitment commits to Adapt, Preserve, Embed, and Invest in solutions for dairy farmers, including ways to continue to reduce GHG emissions.
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