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Yara is a Norway-based company that has been a global crop nutrition and soil health leader since 1905, bringing agronomic knowledge and solutions to North America for more than 75 years.
As part of Yara’s ambition to Grow a Nature-Positive Food Future, we’re identifying like-minded partners who understand it takes a full value chain approach to meet the ever-growing demands of sustainable food systems.
In the U.S. dairy industry, we have found such a partner in Dairy Management Inc. (DMI). We also have found an industry of dairy farmers who are on top of their game when it comes to being a leader in sustainable farming practices.
When we meet farmers, the conversation doesn’t need to begin with, “have you considered a nutrient management plan?” U.S. dairy farmers are proven longtime leaders across agriculture when it comes to enacting soil health practices such as cover cropping and minimal tillage. Due to innovative farming and feed production practices, the environmental impact of producing a gallon of milk in 2017 required 30% less water, 21% less land and a 19% smaller carbon footprint than it did in 2007. The industry overall also proved its leadership attributes when it announced the 2050 Environmental Stewardship Goals.
For us, it’s more about understanding how our talented team of 1,750 agronomists around the world can complement the great legacy we have encountered here.
We are confident our colleagues across the Yara network can offer U.S. dairy farmers a strong complementary aspect to their generations of responsible production. Yara is a leader in developing digital farming tools for precision crop nutrition management, and we work closely with partners throughout the food value chain to improve the efficiency and sustainability of food production.
Recently, Yara North America and DMI announced their intent to collaborate on research that is complementary to the Dairy Soil and Water Regeneration (DSWR) project. DSWR focuses on improving soil health while exploring manure-based products that can create opportunities for markets, incentives and investments in sustainability. It is conducted in collaboration with the Soil Health Institute and leading dairy research institutions and funding support from the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR), Starbucks, and Nestlé.
Yara has our boots on the ground in Auburn, Ala., where a team of agronomists are conducting regenerative agriculture trialling at our Soil Health Incubator farm that we established in partnership with Auburn University. Insights and findings from these trials related to water and nutrient use efficiency, and crop yield and quality will be shared with the DSWR project partners, across the industry and with others involved in the U.S. Dairy Net Zero Initiative.
Supporting innovations and explorations centered around soil health, nutrient management and regenerative agriculture are key as we work towards our ambition of Growing a Nature-Positive Food Future.
Working with a U.S. dairy industry that is advanced in its thinking and leadership gives us an opportunity to deliver true change in an ever-changing food systems environment.
Visit Yara.US to learn more about this collaboration and future advancements.
