AFBI led Project Launched to Promote Sustainable Dairy Farming across the UK

AFBI is leading a UK wide consortium of prominent dairy research and industry organisations.

The consortium is tasked with delivering a multi-million pound, Defra funded, project called the ‘UK Dairy Carbon Network’. This pioneering UK-wide initiative’s primary aim is to support the dairy industry to further reduce Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions through the deployment of innovative mitigation measures. UK Dairy Carbon Network represents a unique and ambitious platform which has wide scale support from and will be delivered through farmers, the dairy supply chain, all four of the devolved governments and academia working together.

The UK Dairy Carbon Network will establish a network of 56 dairy farms, across four major dairying regions in the UK: Northern Ireland; Cumbria and Southwest Scotland; Northwest England; and South/Southwest England and West Wales. These dynamic networks will serve as demonstration hubs where farmers, industry, scientists and policy representatives will work together to deploy and measure the real world impact of solutions to reduce GHG emissions.

The UK wide consortium of organisations, led by AFBI include the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), AgriSearch, UK Agritech Centre, ADAS, Aberystwyth University, Queen’s University Belfast, Harper Adams University, University of Reading, Newcastle University and Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC).  The UK Dairy Carbon Network will assess the effectiveness of a variety of mitigation approaches on real farms. These measures will include innovations in animal management, land use, nutrient management and technology. Furthermore, the networks will support farmers in achieving more efficient use of nitrogen and phosphorus, promoting both environmental and economic sustainability.

AFBI’s Professor Steven Morrison, who is the overall project lead said “Our goal within the project is to work in partnership with farmers and the supply chain to drive meaningful change in the dairy sector by applying research directly to real-world farming conditions and measuring the impact. By working closely with farmers and using advanced measurement and modelling techniques, we aim to measure and report significant reductions in the carbon emissions from dairy farming in the UK. During the formation of the project the interest from across the agri-food industry was immense, with over 50 organisations offering support and indicating a willingness to get involved in the project once commissioned.”

At the Northern Ireland project launch, Ian Stevenson, CEO of Dairy Council NI said “the Dairy Council NI is delighted to be part of this UK wide project. Our NI dairy farmers have already done a lot of good work to reduce their carbon footprint. This collaborative project will demonstrate the practicalities and measure the impact of putting multiple carbon reduction strategies in place, while also reducing the nitrogen and phosphorus balances on our local dairy farms to improve local air and water quality”.

Impact will be assessed through a combination of direct measurements, novel indicators, and farm-level carbon footprint models. This holistic approach is designed to enable GHG mitigation measures to be accurately captured within the UK Agricultural inventory, accelerate the adoption of GHG-reducing practices and further improve the sustainability of dairy farming across the UK.

Knowledge exchange is central to the project’s success.  Within Northern Ireland CAFRE will also work closely with the project to ensure as many NI dairy farmers as possible can engage directly with the project. The UK Dairy Carbon Network will implement a farmer-led, peer-to-peer learning model, ensuring that successful mitigation strategies can be widely shared and adopted within the dairy farming community.

Jason Rankin, Strategy Manager AgriSearch said “One of the four Farmer Networks across the UK will be based here in Northern Ireland. This local network will be made up of 20 farms representing the range of dairy systems in the province. In the coming weeks further information will be shared about the project and how to get to involved.  The selected farmers will be at the heart of these dynamic networks and will demonstrate a range of carbon mitigation strategies on their farms.  The lessons learned from this project will have major impacts and will be communicated to policy makers, industry, academia and, most importantly, other farmers.”

The launch of this UK Dairy Carbon Network project marks a significant step forward in addressing the climate change challenge within the agricultural sector.  This Defra funded project presents a unique collaborative, science-backed approach, spanning the supply chain, to further enhance the sustainability of Northern Ireland and UK dairy farming.

Notes to editors: 

Led by the Agri-food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI), the UK-wide consortium of leading organisations, includes the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), AgriSearch, UK Agritech Centre, ADAS, Aberystwyth University, Queen’s University Belfast, Harper Adams University, University of Reading, Newcastle University and Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC).

AFBI is an arms-length body of DAERA delivering research and development, diagnostic and analytical testing, emergency response capability and expert scientific advice for DAERA and other government departments, public bodies and commercial companies in Northern Ireland, and further afield.

AFBI’s Vision is “Scientific excellence delivering impactful and sustainable outcomes for society, economy and the natural environment”.

AFBI’s Purpose is to deliver trusted, independent research, statutory & surveillance science, and expert advice that addresses local and global challenges, informs government policy and industry decision making, and underpins a sustainable agri-food industry and the natural and marine environments.

AFBI’s strategic priorities:

• Leading improvements in the agri-food industry to enhance its sustainability;
• Protecting animal, plant and human health;
• Enhancing the natural and marine environment;
• Delivering quality outcomes and impact;
• Enabling world class science through excellence in people, places & technology.

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