Dairy Farmers of America’s Matt Musselman shared sustainability initiatives dairy farmers are pursuing during the recent KCAHC Summit ‘22. Launched in 2021, the DFA Nerd Herd is led by farmers. They are supported by a team of engineers, nutritionists, veterinarians, technology experts, scientists and more to help educate consumers about how DFA farm families are using renewable energy methods. These include wind and solar, creating healthy soil and turning waste into power sources through anaerobic digesters to help protect the earth and reduce dairies’ carbon footprints.
Source: AgriNews, September 21, 2022. Link. The Nerd Herd campaign supports DFA’s overall sustainability strategy and commitment to the planet, its people and communities, as outlined in its 2022 Social Responsibility Report.
. . . DFA was the first U.S. dairy cooperative to establish a science-based target and work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across the supply chain by 30 percent by 2030.”
INSIGHTS: Animal health pros benefit from the efforts of groups like the DFA Nerd Herd. Public education is critical to helping the public learn about environmental efforts that benefit overall carbon footprint objectives. Many still see farmers as Old MacDonald and wish to ignore the impressive work being done to reduce livestock’s carbon footprint.