Dairy farmers across the United Kingdom are testing more than 200 practical measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through the UK Dairy Carbon Network (UK-DCN), Farmers Weekly reports.

The three-year project, funded by Defra and led by the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) with research and industry partners, involves more than 50 farms in Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Nutrition is a main focus: farmers are working on diet efficiency, greater use of home-grown forage and feed strategies that could lower emissions. Other measures cover fertility and youngstock health, better use of genetics, refined nutrient plans and getting more value from slurry and manure.

"It is encouraging to see these measures being put into practice and generating real results on farms," said Prof Steven Morrison, the project director, who added that many of the steps also improve efficiency and farm finances at a time when farmers are dealing with market returns, drought and bluetongue.

The project is now looking at how several measures work together rather than one at a time, with some farms trialling combinations to see whether they deliver bigger benefits across the business. "This gives us the opportunity to build a stronger evidence base around what works, where it works and how different measures can be combined," Morrison said. Lessons are being shared with the wider industry.

Photo: Keith Weller, USDA / Wikimedia Commons (public domain)

Source: Farmers Weekly