UK Dairy Carbon Network project launched
Moves to investigate how the dairy industry can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions through the deployment of innovative mitigation measures have been given the go ahead.
The UK government is funding the UK Dairy Carbon Network project, which will establish a network of 56 dairy farmers across 4 major dairying regions of the UK – Northern Ireland, Cumbria and South West Scotland, Northwest England and South/Southwest England and West Wales.
These networks will serve as demonstration hubs where farmers, industry, scientists and policy representatives will work together to deploy and measure the potential solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The project is being led by the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute and will include the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board, AgriSearch, the UK Agri-Tech Centre, ADAS, Aberystwyth University, Queen’s University Belfast, Harper Adams University, University of Reading, Newcastle University and Scotland’s Rural College.
Real dairy farms
The UK Dairy Carbon Network will assess the effectiveness of a variety of mitigation approaches on real farms. These measures will include innovations in animal management, land use, nutrient management and technology. The network will also support farmers in achieving more efficient use of nitrogen and phosphorus, promoting both environmental and economic sustainability.
Project lead Stephen Morrison said the goal within the project was to work in partnership with farmers and the supply chain to drive meaningful change in the dairy sector by applying research to real-world farming conditions and measuring the impact. “By working closely with farmers and using advanced measurement and modelling techniques, we aim to measure and report significant reductions in the carbon emissions from dairy farming in the UK,” said Morrison.
Launched in Northern Ireland, Ian Stevenson, CEO of Dairy Council Northern Ireland, said a number of farmers had already done a lot of good work to reduce their carbon footprint. “This collaborative project will demonstrate the practicalities and measure the impact of putting multiple carbon reduction strategies in place, while also reducing the nitrogen and phosphorus balances on our local dairy farms to improve local air and water quality.”
The impact of the project will be assessed through a combination of direct measurements, novel indicators and farm-level carbon footprint models, so that they can be accurately captured within the UK agricultural inventory, accelerate the adoption of greenhouse gas-reducing practices and further improve the sustainability of dairy farming across the UK.
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