Opinion: Craig Hickman

Much has been written about Fonterra’s plan to reduce their scope three, or on farm, emissions, a lot of it critical of their decision to measure the reductions on an intensity basis rather than a gross basis.

In 2019 the Government established emissions reduction targets which included a gross reduction in methane of 10% by 2030 with a reduction range of between 24% and 47% by 2050.

The targets also included a reduction in longer lived gasses to net zero by 2050. Fonterra’s goal of reducing on farm GHG emissions by 30% per kilogram of milk solids produced by 2030cis even more ambitious than the government targets.

When you manufacture anything, be it cheese or laptops, the end product carries with it the sum total of all the greenhouse gasses emitted in the production process; scope one and two are those emissions associated with the manufacturing and transport of the product, and scope three are those associated with the purchase of components or ingredients.

In Fonterra’s case over 90% of the emissions associated with their products are from scope three or ingredients, in other words milk.

This is not to say the cooperative is ignoring its scope one and two obligations, Fonterra have lifted their target for reducing these emissions from 30% to 50% by 2030.

The reasons for wanting to reduce these emissions are market driven, customers are demanding lower carbon products and there is a real possibility that not taking action could be used against us in the form of non-tariff trade barriers.

Measuring the emissions on an intensity basis, C02 equivalent per kilogram of milk solids, makes a lot of sense at the farm level because it is a drive for more efficiency on farm, something most dairy farmers strive for every day.

Greater feed conversion efficiency, less feed wastage, more targeted use of fertiliser and focusing on the genetic improvement of your herd are all things that save dairy farmers money and, by happy coincidence, reduce the amount of emissions associated with each kilogram of milk solids produced.

The farm I manage has reduced its emissions per kg by 15% over the past three years by focussing on these efficiencies and employing technology like automatic cup removers and in-bail teat spraying to slash my herd’s somatic cell count by a third.

The criticism levelled at this intensity-based measurement is that New Zealand is committed to lowering total gross emissions, and some detractors feel the only way to achieve that is with fewer cows.

The truth of the matter is New Zealand’s dairy cow numbers are declining, as of June 2023 there were 6.1 million dairy cattle in New Zealand, the lowest number since 2011 and well off the peak of 6.7 million in 2014.

Our milk pool is at best remaining static, if not slowly shrinking along with cow numbers.

If New Zealand dairy farmers continue to do what they’re best at and concentrate on producing milk more efficiently, and the amount of milk produced remains static, then two things have been achieved; the emissions associated with Fonterra’s ingredients have been reduced and total emissions have also been lowered.

While there are tensions between total emissions and emissions intensity, there’s no reason why a reduction in one can’t lead to a reduction in the other, keeping our international customers happy while meeting or exceeding the Government’s expectations.

by Craig Hickman

Thanks to Power Farming