The dairy industry is well along the road towards meeting many of the targets laid down in the Milk Roadmap last year defying critics' expectations.
One target was for 50% of dairy farmers to have at least half their dairy-managed farmland entered into Environmental Stewardship Schemes by 2010. According to The Milk Roadmap: One year Down The Road, published last week, 45% of dairy farmers have already reached that target. In addition, almost half have a Nutrient Management Plan in place, a figure Defra termed "promising".
Processors were also "on track" to incorporate 10% of recycled plastic into their milk bottles by the end of 2010, Defra said, while a survey for DairyCo revealed 32% of dairy farmers were trialling new technologies to reduce emissions from agriculture, ahead of the Roadmap's 20% to 30% target.
Although it had been a tough year for the dairy industry, that had not dented its determination to reduce its impact on the environment, said food and farming minister Jim Fitzpatrick.
The dairy industry had shown what could be achieved in a short time, and had now set a clear benchmark for other food businesses to follow, he said. "In the future, all our food industries are going to need to do more to meet the challenges of climate change and conserving and preserving our natural resources."
Arla reported that Arla Foods Milk Partnership farmers were ahead of both the industry average and the Milk Roadmap in relation to nutrient management. A recent survey of AFMP members found that more than three quarters were already monitoring fertiliser and manure usage with the help of a nutrient management plan.
The NFU welcomed the better-than-expected progress. "When we launched the Roadmap last year there were those who thought dairy farmers would not be able to achieve such an ambitious level of improvement," said the NFU chief dairy adviser Hayley Campbell-Gibbons.
One target was for 50% of dairy farmers to have at least half their dairy-managed farmland entered into Environmental Stewardship Schemes by 2010. According to The Milk Roadmap: One year Down The Road, published last week, 45% of dairy farmers have already reached that target. In addition, almost half have a Nutrient Management Plan in place, a figure Defra termed "promising".
Processors were also "on track" to incorporate 10% of recycled plastic into their milk bottles by the end of 2010, Defra said, while a survey for DairyCo revealed 32% of dairy farmers were trialling new technologies to reduce emissions from agriculture, ahead of the Roadmap's 20% to 30% target.
Although it had been a tough year for the dairy industry, that had not dented its determination to reduce its impact on the environment, said food and farming minister Jim Fitzpatrick.
The dairy industry had shown what could be achieved in a short time, and had now set a clear benchmark for other food businesses to follow, he said. "In the future, all our food industries are going to need to do more to meet the challenges of climate change and conserving and preserving our natural resources."
Arla reported that Arla Foods Milk Partnership farmers were ahead of both the industry average and the Milk Roadmap in relation to nutrient management. A recent survey of AFMP members found that more than three quarters were already monitoring fertiliser and manure usage with the help of a nutrient management plan.
The NFU welcomed the better-than-expected progress. "When we launched the Roadmap last year there were those who thought dairy farmers would not be able to achieve such an ambitious level of improvement," said the NFU chief dairy adviser Hayley Campbell-Gibbons.
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