Regenerative agriculture for dairy: Danone leads alliance with DSM

27 Jun 2019 --- In a bid to ensure food systems will be “fit for the future,” Danone is leading Farming for Generations, a new global alliance with seven other agricultural sector players, including DSM. The collaboration will gather cross-sector insights over the next three years, in order to allow dairy farmers to adopt more sustainable regenerative farming practices. Through the preservation and renewal of the planet’s resources and the respect of animal welfare, the long-term economic viability of farms will be ensured, as well as aiding sustainability.

“Dairy has a key role to play in sustainable diets of the future from both a health and environmental perspective, alongside an increasing amount of plant-based foods. Plant- and dairy-based foods are highly complementary – many consumers choose to consume both. In fact, the vast majority of plant-based consumers in countries like the US are flexitarians, consuming both dairy and plant-based,” a Danone spokesperson tells FoodIngredientsFirst.

It is critical that the food system undergoes an overhaul, as it struggles to feed an ever-growing population. Regenerative agricultural practices are a key aspect of this, with the protection of soil, water, biodiversity and animal welfare being necessary elements of safeguarding food security in the future.

“Today, consumers are increasingly seeking healthier, simple foods produced in a sustainable way,” notes the Danone spokesperson. “They want to know what they’re eating, where it comes from and what impact it has on people and the planet around them. We’re working to deliver that through our One Planet. One Health vision and our health-focused portfolios here at Danone, but we know that we need to work with others to achieve real change, at scale. Farming for Generations is a great opportunity to do that for the dairy industry, working with leading agricultural companies.”

As people are becoming more aware of how their food choices have environmental and social impacts, scientific research is attempting to define “sustainable diets.” This is to provide healthy, nutritious food to the ballooning global population, while environmental limits are still respected.

“Regenerative agriculture is a solution to many of the environmental and health challenges we face today. Farming for Generations brings together expertise along the whole agricultural value chain with the collective know-how of farmers. This will ensure solutions and innovations are tried and tested on the ground, and are capable of delivering real impact at scale, in order to build the sustainable food systems of tomorrow,” says Yann Gael Rio, VP Milk and Farming at Danone.

The alliance aims to help identify, scale-up and share sustainable solutions throughout the farming system, with facets including growing animal feed, choosing the ideal breeding animals, rearing animals and milk production. Additionally, it will attempt to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, ensure cows have a healthy and stress-free life and give farmers workable solutions to economic, social and environmental challenges.

These regenerative agricultural practices will be discussed with farmers at each step to ensure that they are viable and applicable to local specificities. “It’s unprecedented to have so many leading experts working towards this shared vision for dairy farming. Our role as farmers will be to serve as a sounding board to ensure practices are applicable and pragmatic and shared in a way so that they can be quickly adopted,” says Brock Peters, a participating dairy farmer based in Ohio, US.

The spokesperson explains how their main challenge – and very much a key to the success of the project – will be to ensure that the best practices become part and parcel of everyday operations on dairy farms. They are co-building solutions alongside farmers and listening to their needs to ensure that what they develop is relevant. Farming for Generations will also provide support from a network of field technicians, advisors and partners who will help farmers implement solutions. Practically, farmers will have access to technical support, financial tools, training materials, but also to a large community where they can share information and learn from peers.

Farming for Generations will begin their pilot projects at 25 dairy farms throughout the US, EU and Russia. “These three regions – and most importantly, the 25 farms we work with closely within them – are just the starting point. After the initial phase, the partners in Farming for Generations will disseminate the results of the trials, and share knowledge and toolkits more widely with the farmers within our global networks,” notes the spokesperson.

The other collaborators are animal health and welfare companies MSD Animal Health, Neogen and FutureCow; crop nutrition leader Yara; crop science company Corteva Agriscience; and artificial intelligence agri-food start-up Connecterra. Additionally, WWF France and Wageningen University and Research will both provide further guidance.

The sustainable revolution
The spotlight is on agricultural giants to reform their practices, as the world edges closer to a global food security crisis. With an expected 10 billion people to feed by 2050, mass overhauls to the food system are critical. In the same year, five million people could die due to factors related to the industrial production of food, which is twice the current number of people killed by obesity.

Earlier this year, a Lancet study found that consumers also must change their eating habits, recommending a 50 percent reduction in red meat and sugar, while doubling the consumption of nuts, fruits, vegetables and legumes.

Food and beverage companies are becoming increasingly conscious of sustainability issues – including the rapid onset of climate change and the impacts that extreme weather events can have on the supply chain, particularly on raw materials. Indeed, sustainability is at the very core of what many leading suppliers are doing – increasing their commitment to sustainable ingredient solutions based on renewable resources. A 2018 Innova Market Insights survey found that 64 percent of US and UK consumers expect companies to invest in sustainability.

This environmental slant can be seen in other dairy industry movers, with FrieslandCampina planning to build a sustainable dairy processing plant. Its goal is to produce climate-neutral dairy in 2050 and to reduce the use of scarce natural resources such as water, raw materials and fossil fuels.

FoodIngredientsFirst has contacted Danone for further comment.

By Katherine Durrell