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, representing 75% 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.
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.
Recognized as a national program by The Sustainable Agriculture Initiative (SAI) Sustainable Dairy Partnership (SDP).
Marked 14 years of increased membership and multi-stakeholder engagement in the U.S. Dairy Sustainability Alliance®.
Celebrated the 11th anniversary of the U.S. Dairy Sustainability Awards program.

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.
Published an updated version of the Dairy Processor Handbook.
Developed and released the FARM ES Conservation Practice Questionnaire.

Long-term Goals:

2050 Environmental Stewardship Goals: Achieve GHG neutrality, optimize water use, and improve water quality.

Increased investor, marketplace, and policy pressures for GHG emissions reduction.
Expanded stakeholder attention on water conservation and quality, natural capital, and biodiversity.
Increased priority on workforce issues.
Need for specificity on key areas of focus related to workforce.
Sustainable packaging is a key priority for dairy processors and customers.

Materiality assessment refresh to inform strategy and future efforts.
U.S. Dairy Net Zero Initiative (NZI) to achieve GHG neutrality.
FARM Environmental Stewardship (FARM ES) program to track, assess, and communicate environmental achievements.
Dairy Feed in Focus to incentivize and implement best practices in feed production and efficiency.
Dairy Soil and Water Regeneration (DSWR) project to address research gaps in feed production and manure-based products.
Development of new metrics and resources for packaging sustainability, biodiversity, and water stewardship.

Frameworks Used: Global Reporting Initiative’s Universal Standards

U.S. dairy directly or indirectly contributes to all 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals.