Data essential to prove dairy’s green credentials
© Aly Balsom Dairy farmers should “not put their head in the sand” when it comes to understanding and lowering their farms’ environmental impact.
That was the take-home message from the opening panel discussion at recent dairy regen event in Cheshire, Down to Earth, where the Grosvenor Farm team (hosting the event) and the farm’s environment adviser, Prof John Gilliland of AHDB, emphasised the value of data.
See also: How Welsh dairy has halved carbon emissions
“Know your numbers, go to the win-wins and engage the win-wins,” John said.
He explained that Grosvenor had done this “exceptionally well”, and were able to demonstrate the positive impact of lowering their carbon footprint on profits.
He explained that being armed with hard facts was essential to fulfil increasing processor requirements to understand and lower Scope 3 emissions.
Only by having data could the industry also articulate positive messaging to the public and uphold the reputation of the sector.
“It’s not good enough to change our behaviour and go on a journey that keeps us resilient – environmentally resilient, economically resilient.
“We have to tell our story, and we have to tell our story with transparency and integrity,” he explained.
David Craven © Aly Balsom
Grosvenor’s dairy manager, David Craven, said the journey to sustainable farming started with recording.
“Know your numbers,” he said. “That, to us, was the way we moved forward. We need to understand our position, understand where we can get to and then we can set out a plan to do so.
“Without that, you haven’t got a start point and you just don’t know where you’re going to go to.”