Dairy firms seeking to improve climate credentials of milk
Lucerne/Vevey/Lyss - Emmi, Nestlé, aaremilch and the Central Switzerland Milk Producers Cooperative are joining forces with the aim of jointly developing the foundations for a more sustainable dairy business in Switzerland. Their project known as KlimaStaR Milch intends to reduce environmental footprint of milk.
The Lucerne-based milk processing firm Emmi, Nestlé Switzerland from Vevey in the canton of Vaud, aaremilch from Lyss in the canton of Bern, and the Central Switzerland Milk Producers Cooperative (ZMP) have joined forces with the aim of creating a common basis for a more sustainable, resource-saving and location-specific Swiss dairy industry. This would not only serve the purposes of environmental and climate protection, but would also be in the best interests of consumers, Emmi writes in a press release.
The resource project, which has been named KlimaStaR Milch and will run for a period of six years, is receiving scientific supported from the School of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences (HAFL) at the Bern University of Applied Sciences and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH). For its part, the Federal Office for Agriculture (FOAG) is contributing financial support to the initiative. The aim is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural milk production by 20 percent.
In total, 300 agricultural pilot operations will be included in this project. Interested dairy farms can find more information online and register to take part. They will then receive a practical analysis of the carbon footprint of their milk, which can be used as a basis to develop customized strategies to reduce emissions that are adapted to their respective location.
“I am convinced that the partnership-based initiative will help us gain a better understanding of complex interrelationships and provide fact-based insights, so that together we can strengthen the tradition of a sustainably oriented Swiss dairy industry also for generations to come”, comments Marc Heim, Emmi Executive Vice President Switzerland, in the press release.
The message from Daniel Imhof, Head Agricultural Affairs at Nestlé Switzerland, is likewise that climate protection will only succeed by joining forces. However, he also underlines that the aim is not to “replace our cows, but rather help to improve their environmental footprint”.
