From powering family dairies with wind and solar to capturing carbon emissions through soil conservation and turning cows’ waste into electricity, Dairy Farmers of America (DFA), along with its family farm-owners, is leading the charge to a more sustainable future. Starting today, World Milk Day, and continuing throughout the month of June, the Cooperative is launching a new media campaign featuring the DFA Nerd Herd.
Led by farmers and a team of engineers, nutritionists, veterinarians, technology experts, scientists and more, the DFA Nerd Herd will help educate consumers about DFA’s sustainability initiatives, while also addressing misconceptions about dairy’s environmental impact. Through a series of humorous, yet informative videos, a Nerd Herd member will free different dairy products of environmental misconceptions by setting the record straight about the various initiatives in place to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.
“For our farm families, sustainability is a way of life and a responsibility for future generations, but unfortunately, there are a lot of falsehoods and misinformation out there today about dairy’s impact on the environment,” says Kristen Coady, senior vice president of corporate affairs at DFA. “Through the Nerd Herd and this media campaign, we want to correct that misinformation and help educate consumers on how we, along with our family farm-owners and Nerd Herd members that support them, are doing our part to produce dairy responsibly, ethically and sustainably. We hope the key takeaway is that consumers can and should feel good about enjoying their favorite sustainably made dairy products.”
The integrated campaign features newspaper ads introducing the DFA Nerd Herd in The Washington Post and Politico, along with select local markets. The campaign will also reach consumers through a BuzzFeed quiz, videos on YouTube, Hulu and other digital platforms, as well as out-of-home advertising in key markets and a robust social media campaign. After June Dairy Month, DFA will release additional videos through the end of the year that put the spotlight on a variety of the Cooperative’s sustainability efforts.
The launch of the Nerd Herd campaign supports DFA’s overall sustainability strategy and commitment to the planet, its people and communities, as outlined in its 2021 Social Responsibility Report. In 2020, DFA was the first U.S. dairy cooperative to establish a science-based target (SBT) and commit to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across the supply chain by 30% by 2030. Additionally, the Cooperative is part of an industry-wide collaboration on environmental sustainability through the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy. As part of this collaboration, the dairy industry has committed to be carbon neutral or better by 2050 and DFA is a key contributor to meeting this goal.
To check out the videos and get more information about the DFA Nerd Herd, including myths and facts about dairy and where to buy your favorite sustainably made dairy products, go to dfanerdherd.com.
About Dairy Farmers of America
Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) is a national, farmer-owned dairy cooperative focusing on quality, innovation and the future of family dairies. While supporting and serving more than 12,500 family farm-owners, DFA manufactures a variety of dairy products, including fluid milk, cheese, butter, ice cream, dairy ingredients and more that connect our Cooperative’s family farms to family tables with regional brands such as Alta Dena® Dairy, Meadow Gold® Dairy, Friendly®’s, Borden® Cheese, Plugra® Butter and Kemps® to name a few. On a global scale, we work with some of the world’s largest food companies to develop ingredients their customers are craving, while staying committed to social responsibility and ethical farming. For more information, please visit dfamilk.com
