The Dairy Self Assessment Tool (DairySAT) is the Australian dairy industry pre-farm gate environmental self assessment tool. It covers 10 key topic areas: Soils, Fertilisers, Effluent Management, Irrigation, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Native Vegetation and Waterways, Energy and Water in the Dairy, Pests and Weeds, Chemicals, Farm Waste.

DairySAT is designed to enable farmers:

• understand the environmental issues facing their farm;
• benchmark where their environmental practices sit compared to industry-wide practices;
• identify the most critical environmental issues on their farm;
• know the legal and dairy company requirements in relation to the environment; and
• understand those issues where they need more information, and be provided with key contacts for the issues.

DairySAT is available in hard copy or on line. Follow the link below. DairySAT is a key component of all Australian dairy industry natural resource management (NRM) and climate change programs delivered by milk companies, regional Natural Resource Management bodies, state agencies, Landcare groups, State Farming Organisations and Regional Dairy Programs.

Arla’s new environmental strategy for 2020 aims high.

From focusing exclusively on the impact from production, transport and packaging, the recently completed strategy plan now encompasses the entire environmental impact of dairy products - right from the farm to the consumers’ wheelie bins.

The study explored the environmental performance and sustainability of a milking production system with different levels of intensification. Emergy evaluation method was used. It provides a proper framework to investigate integrally the biophysical support and socio-economic context and allows to explore the resource and the biophysical constraints of a milking production system.

We first studied a milking production system strictly integrated to local agriculture. The study named 'Emergy Accounting Of An Integrated Grazing-Milking System In Argentina´s Pampas' by Rótolo,G.; Charlón,V.; Franzese, P.P. (2010) was published on the Proceedings of the 6th Biennial Emergy Evaluation and Research Conference. M.T, Brown et al. (eds.), Gainesville, Florida. See the file attached.

It was found out that the integrated agriculture-cattle system for milk production showed a better appropriation of local renewable resources and a lower environmental load than the two sub-systems run in a separate way.
Further studies are needed to evaluate the opportunity to invest more in fattening calves instead of selling them 2-3 days after their birth. This option could improve the performance of the product (calves + culled cows) but it could also lead to an increase of manure and methane production. Waste manure from the milking house, not recycled, should be managed in a proper way, using it as an ecosystem service.

The second step now is to study an intensified milking production system which is not integrated with agriculture. An applied research pilot is also foreseen.

The results of the studies aim to implement a more efficient and environmental friendly management while improving farmers' profitability.

In May 2008, the Dairy Supply Chain Forum through an industry wide working group identified a set of ambitious environmental reduction targets for the fluid milk supply chain. The dairy supply chain has made significant progress since the development of the original document. The release of the Dairy Roadmap in May 2011 not only reports on the progress made against the agreed 2010 targets, it now also encompasses more than just the fluid milk, which is indicative of the extent to which the whole dairy sector has adopted and is committed to delivering the targets associated with this initiative.

Progress to date is encouraging, though the sector is aware that it cannot rest as the targets for 2015 and 2020 are just as challenging!

The Dairy Roadmap is a ‘living’ document and future targets are under constant review to ensure the industry is continually challenging itself and taking account of evolving external factors.

Download the report from the link below.