Fonterra and Nestlé are pleased to share promising early results from their Net Zero Dairy Farm Pilot in Taranaki.
The Fonterra-owned Whareroa farm at the centre of the project has achieved a 5% reduction in emissions intensity in its first full year of milk production.
The aim of the pilot, which is being run with co-partner Dairy Trust Taranaki, is to create New Zealand’s first commercially viable net zero dairy farm within 10 years.
Fonterra’s Director of Sustainability, Charlotte Rutherford, says that while results may vary from season to season – and emissions reduction for any farm is not usually linear – the initial 5% marker is encouraging.
“We’re delighted with our progress so far but still have a lot more work to do to make further improvements,” says Rutherford.
“We’ve seen some initial wins and importantly we’re learning a lot. It’s about trialling different tools and approaches to see what works and what doesn’t. Our next target for the farm is a 30% reduction in emissions intensity by 2027.”
The promising first-season results were largely due to a decrease in imported feed and lower use of fertiliser. This was achieved by better timing of nitrogen application to maximise utilisation.
The team has also focused on improving pasture management, where matching feed to cow requirements has been critical. For example, they’ve used more maize silage and silage that they make on the farm.
With the 2024/25 season now underway, so too is the trialling of new ideas so individual farmers don’t have to. This includes testing out tech that could improve feed conversion efficiency and reproductive performance, installing solar and lectric vehicles for use on-farm and upgrading the milk cooling system via New Zealand-owned outfit Coolcare.
Everything trialled and used on the 290-hectare farm needs to be scalable or already available to all dairy farmers in New Zealand. Solutions also need to be good for the farmer, good for the cow and good for the milk.
Through open days and farmer visits farmers can see things up close for themselves, and then more easily apply successful tools and practices on their own farms.
The partnership between Fonterra and Nestlé was first announced in December 2022 and involves multiple projects that are designed to support farmers with their sustainability actions.
In addition to the Net Zero Dairy Farm Pilot, there’s a GHG Farmer Support Pilot project, an on-farm tree planting programme and an extra payment for farmers who achieve The Co-operative Difference for the 2023/24 season.
Globally, Nestlé is investing billions of dollars in research to advance regenerative agriculture and reduce emissions, aiming to source 50% of its ingredients through regenerative agriculture methods by 2030 and be net zero by 2050.
Nestlé New Zealand CEO Jennifer Chappell says the partnership with Fonterra and its associated projects build on Nestlé’s work around the world to help transform the dairy industry.
“Dairy is our single biggest ingredient, and our vision is that the future for dairy can be net zero,” says Jennifer.
“Working towards a net zero farm means looking at all aspects of the farm, from cow nutrition to sequestering carbon. We will share what we learn on the journey across the dairy industry, with the goal of ultimately mainstreaming on-farm practices that will reduce the climate impact of the dairy industry.”
Charlotte Rutherford says the Co-op has also set ambitious climate targets.
“We’re targeting a 30% reduction in on-farm emissions intensity by 2030, from a 2018 baseline, as we work towards our ambition of being net zero across our operations by 2050.”
She says Fonterra needs to do this for several reasons, including: to retain and support our high-value customers; to ensure continued access to funding and capital for both the Co-op and farmers; to meet increasing legal and reporting obligations; and to fulfil the Co-op’s strategic choice to be a leader in sustainability.