This presentation formed part of the Farming Futures event 'Carbon & Farming - Putting Science into Practice'. 29th July 2010

1. Behind the hype: GHG emissions
Research and
from dairy farming explained
Development
Karen Wonnacott
DairyCo R&D Manager
Brian Lindsay 29 July 2010

2. Outline
• Background
• Terminology
• Targets
• Why reduce greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions?
• Carbon footprinting
• Benefits for dairy farmers
• What is DairyCo doing?

3. Greenhouse gases (GHGs)
• Nitrous oxide (N20)
– 300X more potent
• Methane (CH4)
– 20X more potent than CO2
• Carbon dioxide (CO2)
– <1% in agriculture
• Ammonia (NH3)
– ‘indirect’ GHG

4. The terminology
• Carbon footprint
– "the total set of GHG emissions caused directly and
indirectly by an individual, organisation, event or
product" (UK Carbon Trust 2008)
• Mitigation
• Adaptation
• Abatement
• Carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e)
• Global Warming Potential (GWP)
• GHG glossary available from the DairyCo website
www.dairyco.org.uk

5. Targets in context
• Kyoto Protocol 2012
– 12.5% reduction
• UK Low Carbon Transition Plan 2008
– 11% reduction for agriculture in England
– 3 Million tonnes* CO2equivalents (CO2e)
• National inventory measurement
– Currently crude
– Does not detect actual practice on farm
* DairyCo establishing start and endpoint

6. GHG emissions & dairy farming
• Agriculture contributes 7% of total UK
GHG emissions
• Dairy <2%† of total UK GHG emissions
– Perception
– Actual
• CH4 and N2O emissions have fallen by
17% and 23% respectively since 1990
• More reductions are possible
†DairyCo funded work carried out by North Wyke Research, part of Rothamsted Research

7. Why reduce greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions from dairy farms?
• Reduce energy consumption per unit of food
produced – definite link with profit
• More cost effective use of nutrients
– Feeding the animal
– Making the most of grass
– Better use of manure and slurry
• If industry demonstrates voluntary GHG
reductions, may be less policy/legislative
intervention
• Demonstrating positive improvements to the
general public

8. What is a carbon footprint?
• Cradle to grave, account for all inputs and
outputs, traced back to primary source, e.g.
• Milk production
– Oil→fertiliser→chemicals→machinery→crops/
fodder→housing→feeds →cattle→milk cooling
• Milk processing
– Transport→processing→separation→pasteurisation
→packing→retailer→consumer

9. Components of a litre of milk
Enteric emissions Microbial breakdown
from the rumen of nitrate in soil both
and manure organic and
inorganic and
25% manure
45% Nitrous oxide
Carbon dioxide
30% Methane
Direct inputs:
Diesel, electricity,
chemicals,
fertiliser etc.

10. Anecdotal evidence on farm
1400
Almost 50%
1200 higher
1000
800
600 Total gCO2e/litre
400
200
0
Bottom 25% Average Top 25%

11. Who should calculate your
carbon footprint?
• A lot of tools on the market
• Increasing interest
• Publically Available Specification 2050
(PAS 2050) explains how you carbon
footprint for all products & services
• Carbon Trust accredited
• Milk buyer driven
• Depends on your objective

12. What do I get out of it?
• A figure with which you can benchmark your
farm in future years and benchmark between
group members
• Information on where you could reduce your
carbon footprint
• An understanding of how efficient your farm is
• Return of capital investments over time and
associated reduction in carbon footprint
(hopefully!)

13. What can you do?
• Increase milk yields (regardless of system)
• Reduce replacement rate
• Feed by-products
• Better manage manures & reduce bagged
fertiliser where possible
• Reduce dietary protein
• Invest in heat recovery, water re-use (plate
cooler & rain water), extended grazing
• Use off peak electricity

14. What is DairyCo doing?
• R&D projects - new and existing
– Sampling guidelines project with Carbon Trust and
DairyUK - aiming to standardise carbon footprinting of
milk pools/fields
– Establishment of an annual average national carbon
footprint figure which will provide industry with a
benchmark to measure future progress
– Opportunities for new forage species
• Environment issue statements/ GHG factsheets
• Good communications with industry & Defra
• Milk Roadmap

15. Some of the challenges!
• Still a lot of unknowns
• Some GHG emissions are inevitable!
• Climate events/ unexpected disease
outbreak(s)
• Limited farmer buy-in
• Government/policy
• Media
• Labelling

16. More reductions are possible!
• Dairy sector recognises the need to reduce
GHG emissions
• DairyCo leading discussions & information
provision for farmers, industry, Government
• Many environmental objectives have
synergies with efficiency and cost savings
• DairyCo need to get these win-win messages
over to more dairy farmers!

17. Thank you for your attention!