Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy®

Climate Impact & Sustainability Data (2021-2022)

Increased number of companies adopting the U.S. Dairy Stewardship Commitment to 35, totaling 75 percent of U.S. milk production.
Received $10M from the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research for Dairy Soil & Water Regeneration project.
3,000+ FARM Environmental Stewardship assessments completed.
Developed biodiversity metrics and released the FARM ES Conservation Practice Questionnaire.
Developed packaging metrics to establish a baseline for measurement and improvement.
12% reduction in total water consumption achieved by Foremost Farms USA.
Significant momentum behind efforts to make technology and best practices accessible and affordable to farms of all sizes and geographies.

Distributed more than 1.17 billion pounds of dairy products over two years through the Feeding America network.
Launched the Health and Well-being Task Force.
Grew the U.S. Dairy Stewardship Commitment.
Expanded and updated the Terms of Adoption.
Recognized as a national program by The Sustainable Agriculture Initiative (SAI) Sustainable Dairy Partnership (SDP).
Hosted the 100th in-person food safety workshop, training 4,100 people since 2011.
Dairy Nourishes Network continued to educate and engage on dairy's contributions to health and sustainable food systems.

Updated the Materiality Assessment for U.S. Dairy.
Published a resource to support dairy companies conducting their own materiality assessment.
Updated the U.S. Dairy Stewardship Commitment Terms of Adoption.
Added packaging as an area of impact based on the materiality assessment and dairy community input.
Developed new biodiversity metrics and incorporated them into the FARM Environmental Stewardship (ES) Conservation Practice Questionnaire.

Long-term Goals:

Increased demand for dairy at food banks during the pandemic.
Evolving wellness needs of consumers.
Supply chain reporting demands.
Fewer people understanding on-farm practices, yet more concerned with the environment.

Responded to increased demand for dairy at food banks by distributing more than 1.17 billion pounds of dairy products.
Established the Health and Well-being Task Force.
Initiated research and modeling to begin using a process-based system for the FARM Environmental Stewardship tool.
Gained significant momentum behind efforts to make technology and best practices accessible and affordable to farms of all sizes and geographies.
Developed the FARM ES program and other tools to help farmers measure and communicate environmental achievements.

Frameworks Used: Global Reporting Initiative’s Universal Standards

U.S. dairy directly or indirectly contributes to all 17 United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals.