The question of the location of dairy farms and dairy industry was laid on the table in a discussion about dairy farming in the Santa Monica Valley in California. That valley is surrounded by mountains which prevents the pollution going out. It stays. In other words a whole blanket of pollution is hanging over the valley, in which 1 460 dairy farms keep 2.5 million cows. That blanket gets thicker as new farms settle. Thirty to 40 farms with 2 000 to 14 000 head have settled, Paul Martin of the Western United Dairymen announced. Their settlement is in discussion because most of them picked out the region with the heaviest environmental problems.
Dave Chadwick, Marcelo Carvalho, Li ShengLi and Allan Burgess
Feed transports of more than 1 000 miles
Besides that there is discussion about the environmental consequences of the manure (where to go to?) and the feed transport. ‘If feed has to come from the Middle West, as far as 1 000 miles or more away from the farms, isn’t it logical from the environmental point of view to look for other locations? Or should we do what we always did’, moderator Ulf Wickbom asked at the Summit. It leads to a discussion with the examples of Vietnam and Thailand where the governments stimulate the dairy sector to move from the cities. If dairy farming wants to stay in, for example, the Saint Monica Valley in California, it has to be sustainable, Paul Martin said. ‘We will do our share.’
Dairy farming in China was booming
Not only in the USA problems do with pollution by dairy farming occur. There were concerns about the expansion of the dairy sector in China. Professor Li ShengLi of the China Agricultural University in Beijing explained that in the last years the milk production increased up to 36.5 million tons (in 2000 it was nearly 7 million tons). The sector increased by 30 percent during the top year. Growth is now decreasing because of the high feed costs and lower profitability. The government expects that the number of dairy cows will increase from 14,5 million today to 20 million in 2012; a growth of 8 to 10 percent per year. And the government still will promote the consumption of milk by school-milk programmes (every year the population grows by 15 million newborn babies). On the other hand, Professor Li ShengLi said, the government is aware of the environmental problems of an increasing herd. China tries to reduce the pollution by promoting digesters at the household farms and by feeding measurements. An experiment of the Agricultural University showed that a different ration gives less emission of methane.
Food safety programmes with a whole chain approach
Allan Burgess, President of the Australian Dairy Farmers, underlined that milk must meet the consumer’s expectations on safety and quality. This means no contamination. Food safety programmes prohibits that this safety is in danger. He pleaded for a whole chain approach in which all parties of the chain are responsible. ’Farming systems need to change, but adaptation is already happening’, he said.
Emissions can be reduced
There are solutions for reducing pollution and contamination. Scientists work on that. Soils can emit large amounts of greenhouse gases. The Dairy Research Institute SAC in Dumfries (South West Scotland) showed in an experiment that nitrous-oxide emissions in grassland can be reduced enormously. Using nitrification inhibitor suspension (DIDIN) as an application with normal fertilizer reduced the emission of N2O in grassland with 60 percent. The extra cost was £50 per hectare. A slow release fertilizer also reduces emissions.
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