Dairies play an impressive role in sustainable food systems, and many questions consumers have for retailers, food companies, and restaurants about efforts to conserve resources are being addressed by farmers on a daily basis. As this is where the “farm to fork” journey begins, we thought we’d share a few thoughts on what farmers are doing to conserve resources and help reduce dairy’s environmental footprint.
Recycling resources
Sustainability and stewardship of the land have long been central to dairy. Efforts to reduce waste and “do more with less” through cycling resources are integral to dairy farming. For generations farmers have recycled nutrients from cow manure by spreading it back on the fields. This manure fertilizes crops that create more food for cows, which in turn provides more milk for people. Ecologically, this system is one of the most sustainable forms of agricultural as nutrients are used and reused in a continuous cycle.
Optimizing nutrients
Across the United States, dairy farmers continuously improve their efforts to optimize this nutrient cycle. Having four stomachs means a cow can recycle food that people can’t eat, such as grass, cotton seed, or citrus pulp. As a result, by-products from human food and fiber industries are commonly used as nutritious feed by dairy farmers. Food companies, retailers, and restaurants regularly partner with dairies to recycle these by-products, where the nutrients they provide are converted to milk rather than sent to landfills.
To read the rest of the story, please go to: DairyMinded / Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy
