From diversifying into dairy alternatives to leveraging greenhouse gas reduction strategies and efficiency improvements on conventional farms, dairy companies continuously seek to address market- and government-led pressures to minimize the sector’s environmental impact.
There’s little doubt that with growing global demand for dairy comes a growing pressure on natural resources, placing sustainable farming practices in sharper focus. And consumer attitudes tend to be more negative towards intensive housing systems, stocking density, pen size and group size in farm animal production, according to a 2022 systematic review (see Sources below).
But how sustainable are alternatives such as organic, regenerative and ethical dairy farming – and what do consumers make of these claims?
We spoke to industry insiders to find out why they farm the way they do and what challenges and benefits this entails . . .
Ethical, organic and regen: The Ethical Dairy
The Ethical Dairy’s Rainton Farm is the first and still the only commercial dairy farm in the UK to follow the ‘cow with calf’ method. Ran by David and Wilma Finlay, the dairy is certified organic, pasture-based, antibiotic-free and net-zero carbon.
“When we were researching organic farming 30 years ago as a niche marketing opportunity, it brought us into contact with people living in a parallel universe,” David Finlay said. “They were concerned about issues that were hardly being discussed in conventional circles, if at all – global warming, climate change, biodiversity loss, global pollution and ecological degradation and so on. We felt that the least we could do was to change the way we did our business to minimise our negative impact on our planet.”
Finlay define ethical dairying as encompassing social, welfare and environmental standards ‘above the minimum set for other models’. When he set out to farm ethically in the late 1990s, it required a change of mindset – and a few years just to get started.
“I had been a farming consultant for 10 years and believed deeply that modern farming was about the efficient use of intervention technologies like concentrated feedstuffs, fertilizers, pesticides, antibiotics, and the like.
“It took a while to learn that ploughing and deep cultivation, driving over wet soils with heavy vehicles, preventing the ingress of non-ryegrass herbs and grasses, application of raw farm waste was all causing damage to the health of our soils, [affected] productivity of the farm and increased dependency on these expensive and damaging interventions.”
As a result, the dairy stopped deep cultivation and ploughing 25 years ago; now, they apply only composted farm waste to pastures, which comprise a mix of modern and wild grasses, wild clovers and bred and wild herbs.
“We have reduced our use of pesticides and antibiotic by over 90%,” Finlay explained. “We have stopped feeding anything but leafy herbage to our ruminant animals – no cereals, no soya, no peas or beans, no human food.
“We have planted over 35,000 mixed broadleaf trees on the farm on over 40 hectares (10% of the farm) in the past 25 years. We have created seven new wildlife ponds [and] leave all dairy calves with their own mothers for 5-6 months before careful weaning, and give our retiring cows a year off (from being milked, but with their own calf) before finally entering the food chain.
“Our two full-time employees came here because of the way we farm. We try to ensure they work an average of 40-hour weeks, earning more than the living wage rate, giving them a more meaningful and balanced lifestyle.”
“We leave all dairy calves with their mothers for up to 6 months before weaning and give our retiring cows a year off before entering the food chain. Profitability exceeds pre-transition levels, making us more resilient.”
David Finlay, The Ethical Dairy
The outcome of what Finlay calls agroecological farming has been the farm’s net-zero carbon status; a 50% increase in biodiversity, and a host of other long-term wins.
“The productivity of our crops has returned to the levels we were achieving before the transition; the productivity of our livestock is now exceeding that which we achieved pre-transition. There’s a sense in our team that we are now doing something that we feel proud of – and the level of profitability exceeds pre-transition levels, making us a much more resilient business.”
Ethical Dairy’s products carry both ‘ethical’ and ‘organic’ claims; but is there additional price premium due to this? “There is no price premium over organic, but undoubtedly, it conveys a marketing advantage,” Finlay told us.
As for regulation, it’s unlikely that ‘ethical’ would receive the same treatment that ‘organic’ has, Finlay reckons. “I don’t think ‘ethical’ will ever be big enough to justify the regulatory cost,” he told us.
Similarly to regenerative (more on that later), leaving the definition of ‘ethical’ to interpretation is likely to impact consumer trust and contribute to confusion over the different sustainable label claims out there. “If one claims to be ‘ethical’ but can’t justify that claim with independently-assessed data, then there will be no trust,” Finlay said. “And trust is what builds loyal customers and a sustainable business.”
So what does that leave The Ethical Dairy? “The story is our main USP,” he said. “We don’t have the scale and budget to make our brand nationally-recognized.”
As for distribution, retail and foodservice aren’t well-equipped to make a success out of sustainable dairy, Finlay suggested. “If our cheese becomes separated from the story, it become just another cheese,” Finlay said. “Therefore, most foodservice and retail outlets are not good for us. Those outlets that provide the story behind the product - like organic box scheme businesses – work very well for us.”
Regenerative: First Milk
Dairy co-operative First Milk runs the largest regenerative farming scheme in the UK. The co-op has been farming regeneratively since 2021, paying its farmers an incentive to apply a set of principles linked to soil health, biodiversity and livestock integration. Under the brand Golden Hooves, the co-op markets a range of regenerative cheddar through independent farm shops, delis, village shops and food halls across the UK.
The roots of regen ag
The term regenerative farming was first coined in the 1980s according to The Wildlife Trusts.
Four decades later, there still isn’t a singular standard or a regulatory framework that prescribes what regenerative agriculture must entail. It typically involves a non-exhaustive mix of sustainable farming practices – but there’s no guarantee which ones producers employ or how accurately they measure their progress. In turn, the average consumer understanding of the term has remained low.
Recently, the British advertising watchdog issued guidance for advertisers and told those using the moniker to ‘take care to avoid overclaiming when communicating their regenerative farming initiatives’; adding that blank terms such as ‘regenerative’, ‘nature-friendly’ or ‘sustainable’ within a food context can only be used if appropriately substantiated.
But what does ‘regen’ mean and what sets it apart from other production systems? First Milk chief impact officer, Mark Brooking, told us: “Regenerative dairy is distinct from organic, ethical or higher welfare primarily in its focus on soil health, ecosystem restoration and long-term sustainability.
“Specifically, regenerative dairy aims to improve soil health, increase biodiversity above and below ground and restore nature. Practices like rotational grazing, cover cropping and minimal cultivation are used to protect the soil and sequester carbon, enhancing soil fertility and promoting water retention.
“Regenerative farming follows more holistic principles, for example decision making considers all intended and unintended outcomes. Other systems tend to be more focused on specific outcomes in defined areas.”
Mark Brooking, First Milk
“Regenerative farming follows more holistic principles, for example decision making considers all intended and unintended outcomes. Other systems tend to be more focused on specific outcomes in defined areas.”
The main reason why First Milk adopted regenerative farming practices was primarily motivated by a desire to improve farm resilience and sustainability, whilst also capturing carbon in soil. “Regenerative production aims to reduce each farm’s reliance on externalities – such as fertilizer and imported feeds – making farms more resilient to global volatility,” he added.
As for regulating the term, Brooking said there were practical challenges. “Farming regeneratively is not about following a specific set of rules – every farm is different and so the actions taken will vary to deliver the optimum regenerative practices on that farm.
“Whereas with organic you meet specific standards, regenerative farming is about following core principles and there is a real focus on continuous improvement. We are not in favour of specific regenerative standards nor regulation, as we feel that they would restrict practice.”
This does leave the term open to interpretation – and potential greenwashing, he accepted but pointed us towards ASA’s guidance.
“Our view is that Regenerative Farming will need to be judged on the outcomes: climate, nature, animals, people etc. These metrics will, in the long run be more robust than adherence to standards and with the use of technology these are becoming easier to measure.”
Concluding, he said: “There is growing recognition of the value of regenerative farming practices to improve farm resilience, enhance nature and biodiversity and potentially sequester carbon in soil. The system fits with consumer desire for grazing access and reduces the reliance on purchased inputs, reducing farm exposure to price volatility.
“Consumer understanding of regenerative is still developing, but we believe regenerative production has a bright future because it delivers many of the public goods required by society alongside high quality food production, whilst creating a resilient business for the farmers. We are committed to regenerative production as we see it as the future of dairy.”
Mixed farming: a way forward?
With each system among organic, regen and ethical facing its distinct set of challenges, what’s the future of sustainable dairy likely to be?
What's mixed farming?
In a dairy context, mixed farming typically refers to running a system of livestock and arable crops on the same farm.
According to FAO, mixed farming is ‘the most benign’ agrifood production system from an environmental perspective. This is because it’s largely a closed system: the waste products of arable farming e.g. crop residues can be used for fodder and transformed again through manure into organic fertilizer for the land.
But some regions are better-suited for mixed farming than others – think deforestation in the tropical highlands of Asia and Central Africa due to overgrazing – and there’s the challenge of replenishing soil nutrients by balancing the use of organic and chemical fertilizer. Farmers in mixed systems also need to spread their resources over several activities.
Mixed cropping also reduces the need to purchase straw for bedding and arable rotation can be leveraged as a tool to manage pests and disease.
Sustainable Food Trust CEO Patrick Holden told us all dairies are walking the tightrope between environmental and financial sustainability – and sector industrialization and consolidation isn’t helping with the former.
“When I started dairy farming in 1973 in West Wales, there were 3,000 farmers supplying the local creamery, most of them quite small. Today, hardly any of these small farms remain – and many of those that are still in business have intensified and expanded to survive.”
This is particularly evident in Pembrokeshire, a region he called ‘one of the most industrialized dairy farming areas in the UK and even Europe’. “More than 50% of the milk that is produced [there] now comes from cows that never get out to grass; if a herd expands to more than around 300 cows, it makes it difficult or impossible for them to graze effectively during the summer, unless they use a lot of nitrogen.”
There are good examples of grass-based dairy systems in both the organic and conventional sectors, Holden said. “But all producers are feeling the same price pressures because milk is being treated as a commodity rather than a life-giving substance with a story behind it.”
“Organic dairy probably provides the most reliable way for consumers to identify and purchase milk with a better story behind it.”
Patrick Holden, Sustainable Food Trust
“Organic dairy probably provides the most reliable way for consumers to identify and purchase milk with a better story behind it.
“On organic dairy farms, antibiotic use is severely restricted, the cows must get out to grass during the grazing season, and no artificial chemical fertilizers or pesticides are permitted. That said, even organic dairy farms are under pressure to get ever larger to survive,” the CEO added.
Once again, attracting consumers to this niche market is key. “There is a real opportunity to tell a better story for sustainable dairy and create a connection with the people who buy it. The micro dairy sector is expanding to capitalize on these opportunities.
“But in my opinion, we need a radical shift in our whole dairy farming community towards smaller, grass-fed herds, with higher welfare standards and greater compassion towards the cows.
“A properly-managed dairy herd can be carbon-neutral or even better, but only if the grazing practice is right, nitrogen fertilizer is cut out, and the herd is small enough to be linked to the grazing platform of the farm.”
“A properly-managed dairy herd can be carbon-neutral or even better, but only if the grazing practice is right, nitrogen fertilizer is cut out, and the herd is small enough to be linked to the grazing platform of the farm.”
As for leveraging new feed technologies and genomics, Holden claimed this approach is akin to ‘re-engineering the cow’. “Feed additives, breeding and other strategies designed to reduce methane emissions are all treating the symptom, not the cause of the problem, and will continue to sweep dairy farms along the path of industrialization and intensification,” he said.
The solution? “Mixed farming systems offer great potential for producing food more sustainably, and there is a tremendous opportunity for arable farms who may wish to transition to mixed systems to introduce small dairy units.”
Sources:
Consumers’ Attitudes towards Animal Suffering: A Systematic Review on Awareness, Willingness and Dietary Change
Authors: Rui Pedro Fonseca, Ruben Sanchez-Sabate
Published: Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Dec 6;19(23):16372.