Researchers are seeking more than 50 dairy farms across the UK to join an initiative which aims to significantly reduce the sector's emissions.
The project, funded by Defra, aims to support UK dairy to become greener through the deployment of innovative mitigation measures.
The UK Dairy Carbon Network will establish a network of 56 dairy farms across four major dairying regions in the UK.
These include Northern Ireland; Cumbria and southwest Scotland; northwest England; and south and southwest England; and West Wales.
Led by the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI), the farms will serve as demonstration hubs where solutions to slash emissions will be deployed and measured.
These measures will include innovations in animal management, land use, nutrient management and technology.
Furthermore, the project aims to support farmers in achieving more efficient use of nitrogen and phosphorus, promoting both environmental and economic sustainability.
“Our goal is to drive meaningful change in the sector by applying research findings directly to real-world farming conditions and measuring the impact,” said Professor Steven Morrison, project lead.
“By working closely with farmers and using advanced measurement and modelling techniques, we aim to measure and report significant reductions in the carbon emissions from dairy farming in the UK.
"During the formation of the project the interest from across the agricultural sector was immense, with over 50 organisations offering support and indicating a willingness to get involved in the project.”
Impact will be assessed through a combination of direct measurements, novel indicators, and farm-level carbon footprint models.
This holistic approach is designed to enable mitigation measures to be accurately captured at a national level inventory, accelerate the adoption of GHG-reducing practices and further improve the sustainability of dairy farming.
Knowledge exchange is central to the project’s success: the UK Dairy Carbon Network will implement a farmer-led learning model, ensuring that mitigation strategies can be widely adopted.
AHDB and AgriSearch will be providing more information to farmers about how the four farming networks will work across the UK.
Interested farmers will then have the opportunity to express their interest in taking part in the project.
Professor Morrison said: "The selected farmers will be at the heart of these dynamic networks and will demonstrate a range of carbon mitigation strategies on their farms.
"The lessons learned from this will be communicated to policy makers, industry, academia and, most importantly, other farmers.”
