The AgriDENZ project hosted a webinar on strategies for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in dairy production systems, featuring research and industry perspectives from New Zealand and Germany. The webinar featured presentations from Dr. Cecile DeKlein (AgResearch Group, New Zealand Bioeconomy Science Institute), Andy Millar and Anna Raschel (Thünen Institute of Farm Economics, Germany), which contributed to its success.
Key Takeaways
The speakers highlighted the following key strategies for reducing GHG emissions in dairy farming:
- Practical mitigation strategies can help New Zealand dairy farmers reduce their GHG emissions substantially — modeling of four Southern New Zealand Dairy Hub systems, as noted by Dr. Cecile DeKlein, showed up to ~30% reductions using current options (notably cutting synthetic nitrogen fertiliser, improving per-cow performance and strategic land use changes).
- Andy Millar emphasized the importance of improving on-farm efficiency to reduce GHG emissions, highlighting the benefits of higher per-cow productivity, more home-grown feed and smarter nitrogen use.
- Anna Raschel noted that while the German dairy sector has made significant progress in developing clear metrics and consistent methods for measuring GHG emissions, there is now a need to shift the focus towards implementing effective management strategies and supporting farmers in taking concrete actions to mitigate GHG emissions.
A key theme that emerged across the presentations was the importance of considering the potential impacts of GHG mitigation strategies on profits and other environmental co-benefits. This knowledge will inform discussions with farmers and can boost adoption rates of strategies that offer profit gains and/or environmental co-benefits. By understanding these relationships, it is possible to develop effective incentives, such as pricing, rewards, and cooperative schemes, to support dairy farmers in their efforts to reduce emissions.
Further resources:
- Watch the webinar recording here: https://youtu.be/ad5zImQsDTQ?si=u4JEt0JjveyzxJ0e
- Find the presentation slides on the AgriDENZ website: https://www.agri-denz.com/library
