The Western Australian Dairy Carbon Calculator Pilot saw the development of related extension programs and has played an important role in identifying the barriers, solutions and recording progress in strategies to support the industry in positively moving towards its 2030 climate related targets.
It was a partnership between Western Dairy, Dairy Australia, and the West Australian Dairy Industry Working Group. It aimed to increase uptake of the ADCC by Western Australian dairy farmers, with the goal of achieving a minimum of 80 per cent of the total milk pool to have their emissions baselined by July 2024.
The team behind the pilot
Dairy Australia’s Cathy Ashby led the project, with support from the Western Dairy team and consultants Sarah Lang and Steve Hossen. They worked together to connect and collaborate with Western Australian dairy farmers.
The process involved identifying the farmers who have already completed their baseline through activities such as the Dairy Farm Monitor Project (DFMP), processor activity, or through their own accord. This informed the minimum number of farms required to meet the 80 per cent benchmark.
Farmers were directly contacted to seek their participation in a one-on-one interview to collate their farm data and complete the ADCC. This information was collated and formed the benchmark data for the pilot.
In tandem, development and piloting of workshops for farmers along with extension resources on greenhouse gas emissions and the ADCC were created and tested with local farmers, Dairy Australia staff and service providers.
Achievements
Fifty farms (representing 60 per cent of the milk pool) participated in calculating their farm carbon emissions either through a one-on-one interview to complete the ADCC, or via participation using DairyBase. An additional 18 farms (representing 20 per cent of the milk pool) either self-completed their carbon footprint through other means (via processor support, independent consultant or using a different tool such as the Lactalis Cool Farms tool).
Two styles of workshop were developed and piloted as part of this project, with key focus on:
- why the dairy industry is tracking its greenhouse gas emissions
- how emissions accounting directly impacts dairy farms at a business level
- how to use and calculate farm emissions with the ADCC, and
- actionable steps farmers can take now to manage on farm emissions.
Key outcomes
Unsurprisingly, the farms that completed the ADCC pilot had a large variance in their emissions intensity from 0.79 and 1.33 carbon dioxide equivalents per kilogram of fat and protein corrected milk.
However, when compared to the WA Dairy Farm Monitor data from the same year, the median farm measure was almost the same at 0.94 for DFMP vs 0.97 CO2e per kg of fat and protein-corrected milk (FPCM) for the pilot farms.
This provided reassurance that although there are some outliers (in both directions), the broader milk pool was tracking in a similar direction to the DFMP farms, and the data is representative with regards to greenhouse gas emissions for WA Dairy.
While this information cannot be used conclusively for comparison, it has highlighted there are many opportunities for the industry to explore with regards to future farmer support with understanding carbon emissions on farm, using the ADCC to calculate farm emissions, and considering suitable options for emissions reduction in future.
Next steps
Through the process of running the project, many ideas were captured on how we can improve farmer support in using the ADCC. This included more clearly identifying what farm data is needed for the calculator, having better supporting tools such as updating the user manual and cheat sheets, and creating a step-by-step user video.
These actions, along with the provision of additional information to clearly explain and interpret the figures from the calculator, will give better clarity on what the results mean at a farm scale.
This feedback has been collated and applied to the new Understanding Farm Carbon (Carbon Farming Outreach Program) project, which will be delivered across all dairy regions in Australia in 2024 – 2026. This project has been funded by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water and uses key insights from the WA pilot to scope, develop and deliver extension and farmer support activities.
Through this program, farmers will have opportunity to participate in local face-to-face workshops to build their understanding of carbon farming and will continue to receive individual support with knowing their carbon number using the ADCC.
Other Dairy Australia-led projects are occurring concurrently and include activities and extension support to dairy businesses in successfully adapting to future climate challenges and sustaining or reducing their on-farm emissions.
To find out more about the pilot and upcoming initiatives, please contact Cathy Ashby on cathy.ashby@dairyaustralia.com.au or Carbon Farming Extension Advisor Heidi Barnier on heidi.barnier@dairyaustralia.com.au
