UFAC-UK joins forces with dairy industry to promote sustainability of dairy farming

UK nutritional supplement manufacturer and supplier to the animal feed industry, UFAC-UK has joined forces with the Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers (RABDF) and other industry stakeholders to help highlight accurate facts about greenhouse gas emissions from the sector ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow at the end of October (31).

It is anticipated UK agriculture will come under the spotlight at COP26, which is why it is important to shout about the good work the dairy industry is doing to reduce emissions from what is already quite a low level.

Nigel Bateson, national sales manager at UFAC-UK, whose head office is in Newmarket, Suffolk, said, “It is important, as an industry, that we inform the general public of the actual levels of greenhouse gas contributions coming from the dairy industry and dispel many of the current myths.

“We, along with others in the sector, are asking individuals, key industry stakeholders, businesses, and organisations to promote five key facts internally and to the broader public before, during, and after COP26.”

The facts being highlighted include:

  1. UK Dairy farming is responsible for less than 3% of the UK’s total emissions.
  2. 46% – Almost half of the emissions coming from the dairy cow is from their digestion- a perfectly natural process of ruminants.
  3. It takes 8 litres of tap water to produce 1 litre of milk or 158 litres of tap water to produce 1 litre of almond drink.
  4. The carbon footprint of a litre of British milk is around 1.25kg CO2e compared to a global average of 2.9kg CO2e per litre.
  5. UK dairy cows are some of the most climate friendly in the world. There are 278 million dairy cows worldwide. If they were all as efficient as UK dairy cows, we would only need around 76 million of them to produce the same amount of milk.

The RABDF has produced draft social media posts, newsletter snippets, visuals and posters that are free to copy and paste from their website at rabdf.co.uk/emissions.

RABDF managing director Matt Knight said: “We want to make it as easy as possible for people to spread the good work of the dairy industry and reinforce the fact dairy products aren’t only good for human health, they are also good for the planet too.”

UFAC-UK is helping to further improve the reputation of the industry and make it easier for dairy farmers to manage livestock diets, with the formulation of sustainable palm-free feed products that provide a sustainable replacement to palm fat derivatives, while bringing added performance benefits.

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