Dairy Sustainability Report, Carbon Footprint Resources Now Available



Dairy Management IncIn celebration of Earth Day on April 22, the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy® – under the leadership of America's dairy producers – has released the 2011 U.S. Dairy Sustainability Report.

The report provides an update on progress toward the industry's sustainability goals and serves as a comprehensive resource for the industry, its partners and consumers. It discusses how the Innovation Center's Sustainability Commitment has engaged more than 830 stakeholders who invested approximately 6,700 working days (valued at more than $6.2 million) to support dairy sustainability efforts.

The Innovation Center has partnered with various stakeholders in the inaugural U.S. Dairy Sustainability Awards program, which recognizes efforts on dairy farms and dairy plants that deliver outstanding benefit to business, local communities and the environment.

"Earth Day is an ideal time for the dairy industry to provide an update on our long-standing, unified commitment to healthy people, healthy communities and a healthy planet," said Paul Rovey, Arizona dairy producer and chair of Dairy Management Inc.™, which manages the national dairy checkoff and the Innovation Center. The checkoff established the Innovation Center and U.S. Dairy Sustainability Commitment in 2009.

To obtain an executive summary of the report and to learn more about the industry's unified efforts on sustainability, visit www.usdairy.com/Sustainability.

Additionally, the Innovation Center has unveiled two online tools – Dairy Plant Smart™ and Dairy Fleet Smart™ -- to help processors and transporters calculate their carbon footprints and identify opportunities to save energy and money. The goal is to help the industry achieve $108 million in annual business savings and reduce greenhouse gases by 705,457 metric tons.

A third tool, available to dairy farmers, is SaveEnergy, a decision-making resource that identifies financial assistance opportunities for farm energy audits and equipment upgrades.

04.20.2012