Remembering the farmers’ needs in the sustainability solution
The livestock industry has a unique position in underpinning the circular economy. Each food chain stakeholder has their own complex challenges in addressing sustainability requirements. For the farmer, it’s profitability and developing a production model that does not undermine the environment on which their livelihood depends.
BY NEIL KEANE, COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR, ALLTECH “I Diet A MBM
t’s hard to be green when you are in the red” is a common response from farmers being asked to meet the fast-evolving sustainability require- ments associated with food production. With
many big-picture ideals and schemes, the devil is well and truly in the detail, and agriculture’s move towards a greener future is no different. It will be interesting to see how the Eu- ropean Union’s recent Farm to Fork Strategy proposal engages primary producers in reformulating relevant policy. Interpreting sustainability is one of the most divisive issues facing society today. For agri-food, it is a non-negotiable in how we work. Thinking about future generations and car- ing for the environment has been an unwritten part of food production for millennia. Now the challenge as agricul- turalists is to measure and verify our production models. Live- stock production has a unique position in underpinning the circular economy. Converting feed and by-products inedible to humans into meat and milk. In addition, regenerative graz- ing, strategic cropping rotations and efficient nutrient use all contribute toward enhanced biodiversity.
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Addressing sustainability requirements The challenges for each of the food chain stakeholders in ad- dressing sustainability requirements are different and com- plex. For the farmer, it is profitability and evolving a produc- tion model that does not undermine their lifestyle or the environment on which their livelihood depends. There is no question that livestock production has the unique position of being part of the climate challenge solution in the form of carbon sequestration. However, in this data-driven world, we need to be able to measure and verify it. For governments, climate change mitigation and meeting international- ly-agreed targets would require influencing human behav- ioural change across society. In agri-food, this necessitates open dialogue with all participants in formulating policy and aligning directives to local needs. Education is ongoing; how- ever, it is widely recognised that this will be more effectively achieved via a collective industry approach. At Alltech, we believe this collaboration for achieving carbon neutrality within food production is imperative. The urgency in developing sustainable production models has accelerated. This needs to be done in a way that bypasses silver bullet type solutions in favour of holistic programmes for reducing waste.
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Validation services Up until now, many rural professionals and producers have understood the idea that environmental emissions, such as greenhouse gases, are a lost economic opportunity, repre- senting wasted nutrition that could have driven greater pro- duction. This implies that, as a farmer achieves their animal health and productivity targets, the environmental footprint improves by itself. What has been lacking previously, howev- er, has been the ability to quantify these numbers in a re- al-world situation. By pairing a life-cycle analysis approach with a bespoke on-farm, animal-centred strategy, provides the data that validates the win-win-win approach (i.e., health- ier animals, increased revenue and improved environmental qualities going hand in hand). The Alltech In Vitro Fermentation Model (Alltech IFM) simu- lates rumen fermentation and evaluates the nutritive value of a ration and end-product formation. This dynamic approach to understanding diet efficiency is illustrated in Figure 1. The use of Alltech IFM to formulate more rumen-friendly diets helps producers reduce not only physical feed waste but envi- ronmental waste too. Around 80% of a typical dairy or beef farm’s carbon footprint is derived from enteric emissions (meth- ane from the rumen) and total feed inputs. Used together with
▶ SUSTAINABILITY AND WELFARE | OCTOBER 2020
PHOTO: ALLTECH
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