2011 U.S. Dairy Sustainability Report - Innovation Center for US Dairy

A Shared Vision for Sustainability
Sustainability Vision
We commit to being leaders
in sustainability, ensuring
the health and well-being
of our planet, communities,
consumers and the industry.
U.S. Dairy Sustainability
Commitment
Stakeholder Representation
Academia
Processors/Manufacturers
Energy Industry
NGOs
Consultants
Dairy Suppliers
Government
Retailers
Financial Sector
Media
Dairy Producers
Other Dairy Industry
0 30 60 90 120 150
Balanced stakeholder representation is
important to ensure that all viewpoints
and perspectives are represented.
For generations, dairy farm families and businesses have
viewed taking care of the environment as an inherent part
of producing fresh, wholesome milk and milk products.
Their livelihood depends on being good stewards of
the land and water, dedicated animal caretakers and
productive members of their communities. In fact,
compared to 1944, the dairy industry now produces a
gallon of milk using 90 percent less cropland, 65 percent
less water, 76 percent less manure and a 63 percent
smaller carbon footprint through production efficiencies,
cow nutrition management and other improvements. 12
What is unprecedented is how the dairy industry has
recently come together pre-competitively to take a leading
role in promoting sustainability and providing consumers
with the nutritious dairy products they want in a way that
makes our industry, the earth and its people economically,
environmentally and socially better — now and for future
generations.
In 2007, the board of directors for Dairy Management
Inc. (DMI) — which builds demand for dairy products on
behalf of dairy producers and dairy importers — launched
the U.S. Dairy Sustainability Commitment. The following
year, more than 250 representatives from the dairy
industry, academia, government and nongovernmental
organizations (NGOs) attended the U.S. Dairy Sustainability
Summit to focus on opportunities to build business value
and reduce GHG emissions across the value chain. The
outcome of the summit was a shared sustainability vision,
guiding principles and a voluntary, industrywide goal to
reduce GHG emissions for fluid milk by 25 percent by the
year 2020, using a 2007/2008 baseline.
Following the summit, the Sustainability Council, described
on page 12, chartered multiple project teams to develop
A Roadmap to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions and
Increase Business Value. 13 The roadmap outlines a portfolio
of high-priority projects, which is estimated to increase
business value by $238 million and reduce GHG emissions
per gallon of milk by approximately 11 percent — nearly half
of the ambitious 25 percent reduction goal. Work on these
projects began in January 2009, and an update on their
progress starts on page 24.
Our commitment does not stop with GHG emissions; we
have initiated efforts to understand dairy’s environmental
impacts and opportunities beyond GHG emissions, as well
as our social and economic impacts and opportunities,
as highlighted throughout the report. As indicated in the
graph at left, more than 800 stakeholders are actively
involved in the U.S. Dairy Sustainability Commitment.
Feeding the World in 2050 and Beyond
As we work toward lowering the environmental impacts
of producing dairy products, we recognize that the ways
we address today’s challenges and the decisions we
make must consider the needs of future generations.
Faced with projections of a world population exceeding 9
billion by 2050 and needing at least 70 percent more and
higher quality food, we recognize that the dairy industry
must continue to become more sustainable through
optimization of available environmental, social and
economic resources. 14,15
The U.S. is already the largest cow milk producer with the
highest productivity rates of any country in the world. 16
From 1961 to 2009, milk production per cow in the U.S. has
increased on average by 280 pounds per year — more than
four times the world average. 17 Fifty-eight percent of the
milk productivity increase during that period (an additional
7,728 pounds of milk per cow) is attributed to improved
breeding. 18 Management approaches and technology —
including better practices regarding cow comfort and
milking — and state-of-the-art equipment contributed an
additional 5,553 pounds of milk per cow. 19
Still, global milk demand is projected to almost double to
two trillion pounds of fresh milk equivalents by 2050. 20
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