Trouw Nutrition Ireland is rolling out a number of environmental footprint programmes across the country over the coming months.
These include environmental assessment tool, ‘FeedPrint’, to its feed mill customers.
The solution, developed by Trouw globally, will allow feed mills in Ireland to accurately measure the environmental footprint of their feedstuffs.
The company is soon to introduce a similar programme, MilkPrint, to the dairy sector in Ireland, giving farmers and processors the ability to measure the environmental footprint of their milk.
Environmental footprint
FeedPrint uses Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) databases to calculate the environmental impacts of ingredients used to make livestock feed, from grains and by-products to minerals and vitamins.
These databases are maintained and updated by accredited, independent organisations and FeedPrint is reportedly synced to use the most up to date information available.
FeedPrint also includes a module that helps calculate the environmental impact of the energy used in feed mills to turn those ingredients into livestock feed.
“Feed and food companies are under increasing pressure to place a tangible focus on minimising their environmental impact,” said Aidan Fisher, general manager, Trouw Nutrition Ireland.
“With the spotlight on climate change, social responsibility and supply chain traceability, being able to calculate the carbon footprint of feedstuffs provides an excellent starting point for our feed mill partners.”
Trouw’s MilkPrint programme will be rolled out in the coming months to the dairy farming industry, an opportunity the company believes will prove valuable for farmers and processors alike.
“Being able to quantify the carbon footprint of milk offers huge potential,” Fisher continued.
“There is no doubt milk producers will see further requests from processors to demonstrate sustainability on farm, as processors in turn are placed under increasing pressure by retailers to prove sustainability throughout the production process.
“Ultimately, lowering environmental impact at farm level can create a more financially stable future as processors will likely move towards rewarding sustainability as a factor in milk price, in a similar way that milk quality is currently rewarded.
“From a dairy perspective, we see the biggest impact on the environmental footprint coming from an increase in lifetime daily yield.
“The production of more milk over the cow’s lifetime will mean the need for fewer, healthier, more efficient cows, resulting in a financial benefit to the dairy farmer and less impact on the planet,” Fisher concluded.