How We Measure Dairy Farming's Carbon Footprint

Unlike most other dairies, Arla doesn’t have farmers in only one regional area. We are a cooperative with farmer owners in seven countries in Northern Europe. A Swedish farm is different from a British or German farm and so is the carbon footprint of the specific feed types, breeds, manure handling systems etc. that are used by our farmers.

None of the open tools available currently have this level of detail that enables us to make a comparable mapping for all our farms. Therefore, we decided to develop a tool that is based on the latest science-based and globally recognised approach but also designed to take into account the necessary regional differences that influence the calculations on the individual farm. Furthermore, by having designed our own tool, we can update it on an ongoing basis to align with the latest science on the climate impact of various farming methods and Life Cycle Analysis, which are continuously maturing.

Arla’s FarmAhead™ Check tool is based on ISO (14044) standards for life cycle assessment and follows the International Dairy Federation (IDF) guidelines on Carbon Footprint methodology, while emissions from animals, manure and soils are based on IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change).

It is developed by in collaboration with 2.0-LCA consultants and thoroughly documented at www.lca-net.com. The tool will continuously be aligned with new developments in climate science as well as new developments in farming practices.

Our main objective for our FarmAhead™ Checks is not to compare or compete on CO₂e levels against other dairy companies or farms outside Arla. Our objective has been to create the best tool to support our farmer owners in reducing their emissions further in the most effective way. This is why we have gone quite far in designing a tool that ensures accurate calculations for our specific regional parameters. However, that also means that the exact results from Arla’s FarmAhead™ Checks are not suitable for one to one comparisons with results generated by other calculation models.

The farmer signs up to a FarmAhead™ Check and submits data to 203 questions in an online questionnaire. The tool provides a preliminary carbon footprint result which is then validated by an external agricultural climate advisor. The advisor makes a physical visit (during Covid-19 restrictions a virtual visit) to the farm and reviews the data and goes through the results with the farmer. There is a dialog where the farmer can ask questions and the advisor gives tailored advise to the farmer about the strengths and areas of improvements for the farm.

Once the farmer’s data is reviewed and validated by the advisor, it goes through a second review centrally in Arla to check for discrepancies and anomalies and when it has passed our statistical processes, the data is confirmed and will be part of the compiled data from all farms to generate insights and benchmarks.

All areas that are among the internationally recognised areas for climate assessments on a dairy farm are assessed in Arla’s FarmAhead™ Checks. Among other things these include data on the animals coming to and leaving the farm, breed, the feed used, produced and sourced, use of fertilizer, waste and manure handling, use of fuel and energy including use of own renewable electricity.

Besides the classic parameters, there are other emissions on and outside the farm that different climate assessment tool may or may not include - or are internationally discussed as potential areas to include:

Peat soil

While some tools don’t include CO₂ and nitrous oxide emissions from peat soils, these are calculated in Arla’s FarmAhead™ Checks based on the emission factors used in the national inventory reporting in each country respectively. A third of Arla farmers have peat on their land, some have a lot of peat land while others have very little. If excluded, Arla’s average footprint per kilo of milk would be 1.06 kg of CO2e per kg of milk instead of 1.15 (2021 numbers).

Peat land is a drained wetland, which for centuries have stored a much greater amount of carbon. When drained, the stored carbon is released and therefore drives up the CO₂e per kilo of milk produced on the farm. Even if the peatland on a dairy farms is left untouched or converted to production of plant-based food for humans, they would still be responsible for significant emissions into the atmosphere. The dilemma is currently being considered in international measurement models, while the need for political support to the farmers is discussed across the EU.

Land use change (deforestation)

CO₂ emissions from land use change are currently not included in the Arla tool. Direct land use change is typically related to e.g. soy production in South America that has caused deforestation in the years after 1990. Arla’s tool is designed to account for this and emissions from land use change will be included in the results as soon as the information about how much soy is actually sourced from the affected regions is more reliable.

The majority of externally purchased feed used on Arla farms is sourced within Europe, where the farmers live. The share of soy that Arla farmers use range between zero to 10 per cent and all soy used on Arla farms is either organic, ProTerra certified, RTRS (Round table Responsible Soy) or covered by RTRS certificates.

Carbon sequestration

Dairy farmers often have a lot of grasslands that can absorb and store carbon and this could potentially be recognised as a positive handprint that ultimately reduces the farmers’ carbon footprint per kilo of milk. However it is one of the effects of dairy farming that are not fully scientifically understood and there is currently no consensus on how to account for this. Therefore, carbon sequestration is not yet included in Arla’s FarmAhead™ Check.

Arla is part in a collaboration called C-sequ with Danone, DMI, FrieslandCampina, Fonterra, Mars, McDonalds and Nestle among others to develop internationally recognised and globally adopted carbon sequestration calculation guidelines for the dairy sector. During the fall of 2020, a public consultation has taken place to review the suggested methodology. An interim guideline is now close to be finalised and is aimed to be published before summer. During 2021, Arla will conduct pilots in our four core markets to test the developed methodology under practical conditions. 

Yes, we have calculated the carbon footprint from dairy farms for several years, either using our own tools or open tools available in the different countries or internationally. We started developing our first own tool in 2011 designed for Danish farmers and this was rolled out in 2013. Our farmers in Sweden, the UK, Germany and Benelux have used national open tools, but we wanted to develop one tool for Arla farmers in all countries to be able to measure, compare and track progress of emissions across our cooperative. This led to the rollout of our global FarmAhead™ Check tool in 2020.