One of Fonterra’s biggest customers, Nestlé, has welcomed Fonterra’s plan to reduce 30% of its on-farm emissions by 2030.
The move sends a positive signal to New Zealand’s dairy industry and supports Nestlé’s own ambition to reduce greenhouse gas emissions throughout its value chain, the company said.
As a major buyer of NZ dairy ingredients, Nestlé continues to work with processors such as Fonterra to support farmers in adopting regenerative agriculture practices that help reduce emissions, Nestlé NZ CEO Jennifer Chappell said.
“This move by Fonterra will encourage even greater action by farmers, researchers and policymakers in support of a just transition for the dairy industry, which in turn will help the industry and dairy farmers make the most of the economic opportunities presented by the shift to lower emissions.
“Nestlé has sourced dairy from New Zealand for well over 100 years. We will continue supporting farmers alongside our partners to develop new economic opportunities and reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. We do this by prioritising our sourcing from farmers engaged in lowering emissions, by providing technical support, and by paying a premium for their products.”
Nestlé released its Science-Based Targets initiative-aligned Net Zero Roadmap in 2020, committing the company to reduce its absolute emissions by 20% by 2025 and 50% by 2030 on the way to net zero by 2050, even as the company grows.
“Climate change is one of society’s greatest challenges, and requires all of us to act with urgency,” Chappell said.
“As dairy is our single biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions, we must work with dairy farmers and their communities towards our goal while supporting a just transition. For this reason, we have over 100 pilot projects with partners around the world, including in New Zealand.”
Chappell said some of the projects the company has underway with Fonterra are:
• Working with farmers to plant a million native plants on marginal land on farms to sequester carbon.
• Improving nutrient management, including fertiliser use on farm, with the aim of reducing on-farm greenhouse gas emissions
• A pilot farm aimed at demonstrating how to develop a profitable net zero emissions approach.
• Reducing on-farm greenhouse emissions by accelerating the adoption of good farming practices.
Nestlé is also working with its other NZ dairy suppliers on projects to reduce emission, she said.
Nestlé’s global roadmap identifies on-farm measures such as caring for grassland to store more carbon, cutting methane produced by animals through nutrition changes, improving manure management and using more sustainable feed, in addition to improving farm productivity, as key actions to reduce net emissions.
Nestlé also inaugurated its Nestlé Institute of Agricultural Sciences earlier this year, which aims to translate novel agricultural science into concrete applications.
In Focus: Fonterra farmers the focus of emissions plan
Fonterra has revealed its plan to reduce on-farm emissions by 30% by 2030. Bryan unpacks the plan with Federated Farmers dairy chair Richard McIntyre (skip to the 20:10 minute mark).
In this week’s feature interview, MyFarm boss Andrew Watters talks about what he calls the third wave of land-use change and the options available to farmers looking to diversify their income (skip to the 8:50 minute mark).
And Richard Rennie reflects on his day on farm with a Bay of Plenty catchment group and talks about how Sir John might be the key Zespri is looking for as it deals with unlicensed SunGold fruit being grown in China (skip to the 1:20 minute mark).
