Making progress with our farming emissions action plan

In November 2023 we launched Fonterra’s Climate Roadmap which outlined our 2030 targets and our action plan for how the Co-operative will deliver emissions reductions across farming, manufacturing, and transportation. One year on, we’re on-track with our action plan to deliver those targets, but there is more work to do.

Our 2030 on-farm target is a 30% reduction in Scope 1 and 3 Forest, Land and Agriculture (FLAG) GHG emissions from dairy per tonne of fat-and-protein-corrected milk (FPCM) from a FY18 base year.^* We’re making progress across the four components of our on-farm action plan to achieve a 30% reduction in FLAG emissions intensity.

Our progress

7% - Best practice farming 

Our biggest opportunity to reduce farming emissions right now is by driving greater efficiencies through best practice farming. This includes improving herd performance, optimising nutrients from fertiliser, minimising energy use on-farms, and delivering the optimal nutrition to cows. 

In financial year 2024, we’ve engaged with over 90% of our New Zealand farmers about our emissions reduction targets and how we plan to achieve them, and to date, 93% of Fonterra’s New Zealand farms now have Farm Environment Plans. This plan not only helps give farmers advice about reducing their environmental impacts, it also gives advice about efficiency and productivity, which will also help in terms of reducing emissions. We also have over 90% of our New Zealand farms with an Animal Wellbeing Plan.

Additionally, we’ve developed a suite of emissions efficiency tools and services to help farmers supplying Fonterra New Zealand identify opportunities for emission efficiency, including:

• A new On-farm Efficiency Service, delivered by our Sustainable Dairying Team. 

• An Emissions Efficiency Dashboard that provides in-depth analysis of on-farm data and what is driving a farm’s emissions footprint.

• A GHG Emissions Scenario Tool that calculates the estimated change in emissions for a farm based on critical inputs such as milk production, stock numbers and fertiliser usage.

In September, we issued our Farm Insights Report with a renewed focus on emissions and efficiency to every farmer owner in our Co-op. This report included nutrient optimisation for increased pasture growth, feed efficiency for optimising grazing on-farm, and animal efficiency opportunities for healthy, high-performing cows and optimum milk production.

To support our New Zealand farmers even further, our Farm Source team have accelerated development of their people and industry partnerships. This includes enablement of field team capabilities with bespoke and regional training sessions, the introduction of regular farmer meetings to discuss emissions and efficiency topics, industry insights, and to share experiences. Our Farm Source team have also developed an industry engagement programme with over 30 New Zealand based dairy industry partners to support farmers with technical expertise in areas such as reproduction and genetics.

7% - Innovating new technologies

We’re continuing to support the development of innovative new technologies. In the last 12 months, we have continued to fund AgriZero^NZ which is a joint venture with agribusiness and Government who are contributing to the development of novel technologies. AgriZero^NZ has committed $34 million in several methane mitigation technologies and R&D that has potential for the New Zealand agricultural industry. These investments include:

• Ruminant BioTech, a digestible slow-release methane inhibitor.
• BioLumic, a UV light seed treatment to increase lipid content and reduce methane output of grazing animals. 
• ArkeaBio, a methane vaccine.
• Hoofprint Biome Inc, which uses enzymes and probiotics as a supplement to optimise gut health and improve efficiency in ruminants.   
  
   

8% - Increasing vegetation

We’re making progress in this area, using technology to help us. We’re using a tool that maps trees and other woody vegetation across farms so that we can understand the carbon being sequestered by that vegetation, and we will then work with farmers so that we can account for that sequestration. By using a combination of satellite imagery, aerial photography, and LIDAR data, we will be able to map vegetation, classify that vegetation by type and age, and then assign a carbon sequestration value to it. That information can then be used to calculate the total amount of carbon being removed by trees from individual farms annually. So far, we’ve completed preliminary mapping for all Fonterra farms and we’re now working through the process to get the outputs independently verified to ensure our figures are accurate. Early next year, we plan to share this with our farmers where they will have a chance to review and validate the mapping and carbon removals on their farm. We will then work with farmers so that we can account for that sequestration.​

8% - Land use change

Our on-farm emissions also include those attributed from the historic conversion of land to dairy farming. These reported emissions will reduce as they are accounted for over a 20-year responsibility window from the point of which the conversion occurred. It is expected that these reported emissions will start showing reductions from the 2024/2025 farming season.   

What’s next?

We’re going to continue to deliver tools and services to support farmers with emissions efficiency on-farm. We’re also going to be partnering with our customers, bringing them closer to our farmers to help accelerate emissions reduction and build a resilient New Zealand dairy industry for the future. 

The Fonterra Climate Roadmap is our strategy - the path that takes us towards our 2030 targets and ambition to be net zero by 2050. It outlines how Fonterra expects to deliver key actions across farming, manufacturing and supply chain operations and the support it will need to get there. First released in November 2023, our second edition provides an update based on the latest data and shows where we are at as a Co-operative today. View the Climate Roadmap.

*The target includes FLAG emissions and removals.​