Industry leaders promise multiple facets to greenhouse gas reduction

By CAROL RYAN DUMAS
Capital Press

An industry initiative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the farm to the display case is about more than on-farm digesters, dairy leaders say.

The effort is far broader, said David Pelzer, Dairy Management Inc. senior vice president of industry image and relations. It comprises 12 projects identified by industry leaders and coordinated by the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy, part of DMI.

While some of the projects can be legally funded with dairy checkoff dollars, other projects will be funded by industry donations.

The goal to reduce emissions by 25 percent by the year 2020 was formally announced in April 2009, but it did not gain attention until a memorandum of understanding between USDA and the industry was announced in Copenhagen last month.

The reduction is voluntary but provides potential benefits for dairy farmers, processors and retailers, Pelzer said.

"It puts the dairy industry more in the driver's seat, as opposed to having regulations put upon the industry," he said.

The initiative initially focuses on the fluid milk supply chain, from production of feed to processing, packaging and distribution. The 12 projects are aimed at reaching half of the carbon reduction goal and have the potential to create a conservatively estimated $238 million in business value across the industry.

"Consumers increasingly demand products that are produced, packaged and distributed in a sustainable way," said Tom Gallagher, CEO of the Innovation Center and DMI.

Currently, about 30 percent of U.S. consumers buy products based on health and sustainability, according to the Natural Marketing Institute. That segment accounts for $227 billion in purchasing power.

In addition, the initiative aims to capture carbon credits for producers and allied industry and boost on-farm income opportunities in emerging green energy markets.

"The goal is to reduce emissions and have a strategy to get there, reduce costs and increase the revenue stream," Pelzer said. "The benefit will become more apparent over time."

Producers, including Idaho Dairymen President Mike Roth, are relieved to hear that on-farm digesters aren't the only strategy.

"All of the bugs have not been worked out on methane digesters," Roth said. "For every 10 you put in, there are only 20 percent of them that work."

In addition, most producers can't fund them on their own. They'd need grants, he said.

"The federal government is going to have to throw millions of dollars at it," he said. "Ultimately, the taxpayers will pay for a lot of it."

Jack Davis, a Kuna, Idaho-based dairymen and former Idaho Dairymen president, said he thinks digesters will be part of the future, but that the timing isn't right for broad adaptation of the technology. Digesters are still lacking, both in technology and profitability.