Breeding For Optimal Efficiency Yields Greener Dairy Herds

A recent report published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations shows that the global dairy industry is already part of the solution to address climate change. However, dairy farmers need to accelerate their current efforts by continuing to improve production efficiency. Denene Erasmus reports.

- Denene Erasmus

The growth of the world population, which is expected to increase from the current total of about 7,6 billion people to 8,6 billion in 2030, 9,8 billion in 2050 and more than 11,2 billion in 2100, has left farmers with the responsibility to increase the supply of food in order to meet demand, which is set to double by 2050. As is the case for every agricultural industry, this growth will provide opportunities and challenges for the dairy sector. According to a report published earlier this year by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Global Dairy Platform, more than 80% of the world’s population, or about six billion people, regularly consume dairy products.

The report, ‘Climate change and the global dairy cattle sector: The role of the dairy sector in a low-carbon future’, states that the challenges for the dairy sector include bringing milk to the consumer at competitive prices, while also contending with changing weather patterns, changing market dynamics and dairy prices.

At the same time, dairy farmers also have to adapt their operations in line with the growing emphasis on sustainability, as well as on consumers’ growing concerns about the environment, animal welfare and the quality of their food.

EMISSION INTENSITY

According to the report, livestock products are responsible for more greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions than most other food sources.

“In dairy production, emissions are the result of various complex biological processes, [such as] methane from enteric fermentation, [during which] methane is produced as a by-product of the digestion process,” the FAO report states.