UK dairy farmers ramp up activity to cut greenhouse gas emissions

More than 200 practical measures to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are now underway on farms involved in the UK Dairy Carbon Network (UK-DCN) project.

Over 50 farms across four Farm Networks in Great Britain (GB) and Northern Ireland (NI) are implementing measures across four key areas:

• Nutrition
• Breeding
• Animal health
• Nutrient management

Nutrition is one of the most popular areas for action, with farmers working to optimise diets, make better use of home-grown forage and explore feed strategies that could reduce emissions.

Other areas of focus include:

• Fertility
• Youngstock health
• Genetics
• Nutrient planning
• Making better use of slurry and manure

Professor Steven Morrison, UK-DCN Project Director, said:

“More than a year into the project, the enthusiasm and commitment shown by farmers has been outstanding. It is encouraging to see these measures being put into practice and generating real results on farms.

“The collaboration and support provided by supply chain partners has been vital in helping farmers make these changes and maximise their impact.

“Many of the measures have the potential not only to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but also to improve farm efficiency and financial performance. That is particularly important as farmers continue to manage challenges including market returns, effects of drought and bluetongue.”

As the project develops, there’s an increasing focus on combining several emissions-reduction measures rather than considering individual interventions in isolation.

Some farms are already exploring multiple approaches together, with the project assessing whether combinations of measures can deliver greater benefits across the whole farm.

By combining on-farm implementation with scientific measurement and data collection, the project is building a clearer picture of the potential of different measures, both individually and in combination, to reduce GHG emissions.

Professor Morrison added:

“The strength of this project is that we are seeing these measures being implemented in real-world farming conditions. This gives us the opportunity to build a stronger evidence base around what works, where it works and how different measures can be combined to support further reductions in emissions from the dairy sector.”

Knowledge and experiences from participating farms are also being shared with the wider industry, helping more dairy farmers identify practical opportunities to reduce emissions within their own farming systems.

As part of the project, AHDB is responsible for coordinating the three Farm Networks in Great Britain and leading communication and knowledge exchange activities.

This helps ensure that lessons learned on participating farms are shared widely with dairy farmers across the UK.

The UK-DCN is a three-year, DEFRA-funded project led by the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI), working with a consortium of research and industry partners.

The project brings together more than 50 dairy farms across four regional Farm Networks in GB and NI to implement and assess practical approaches to reducing GHG emissions from dairy farming.