In Defense of Dairy
This article was written by a guest contributor, Maddy Kinnear. Read about Maddy here.
Growing Awareness of the Impacts of Food
Rising sea levels, melting ice caps, super storms, pollution…the list of environmental anxiety triggers is never ending in today’s world. With problems such as these, it is easy to be swept up with the growing wave of consumers who want their purchases to make a positive difference in our planet’s health, and the dinner table is an easy place to start. In the past decade, the rise in popularity of plant-based dairy alternatives such as soy, almond, and oat can be seen on the shelves of grocery stores, coffee shops and on various social media platforms. One might choose to consume these products for any number of reasons but drinking these plant-based products for the sake of the environment doesn’t necessarily have to be one of them.
“It’s Not the Cow, It’s the How”
Any industry can be harmful to the environment generally speaking, but it takes individuals to make choices to minimize the impact of production. Dairy farmers rely on happy, healthy cows to produce milk, and a healthy environment supports their farm and animals for generations to come. The future of sustainable agriculture goes far beyond a lab that produces alternative meat and dairy products. Farmers are utilizing new technology and new information to improve the quality and quantity of food being produced. Farmers across the globe are finding new ways to increase the sustainability of agriculture from soil health to atmospheric emissions. This article scratches the surface of just some of the measures dairy farmers are taking to improve their environmental impact.
From the Ground Up
Sustainable farming starts by maintaining a healthy “living” soil, whether it’s for growing crops, or supporting a grazing herd of animals. Farmers that use crops to support their dairy herds rely on crop rotations to manage soil’s nutritional needs while also decreasing external inputs. Just by switching between corn, soybean, and alfalfa, a farmer can increase the feed output of a field while also using less fertilizer and pesticides. Other crop rotation strategies include using a cover crop, which is a crop grown with the intention of covering the soil (not necessarily for harvest). Cover crops protect the soil from erosion, increase the amount of organic matter, and increase the biodiversity of the agroecosystem, which in turn helps protect a farmer’s crop from disease, pests and soil fertility problems. Dairy cows thrive on a diet that contains a diverse set of crops, which is conveniently the best scenario for soil that is in crop production. New technology is also making it possible for farmers to produce more with less by reducing inefficiencies and eliminating waste. No-till or reduced tillage farming also helps farmers increase their soil health while increasing their long-term yields. No-till farming reduces soil erosion and maintains soil organic matter compared to regular till, while often still having the same amount of weeds.
A cow’s diet itself can help maintain a healthy agricultural ecosystem, or “agroecosystem.” Cows, including both dairy and beef, have evolved a digestive system that is able to take low nutrient food sources and convert it into energy needed to survive and reproduce. This fulfils an ecological niche when herds are properly managed. Grass fed herds sustain themselves on land that is potentially unusable for other crops, such as those that are grown to be used for dairy alternatives such as oats, soy or almonds. Pasture grazing livestock also help to create an environment where both agricultural production and native species can coexist in the same area which benefits native plants, invertebrates and other wildlife while also feeding the growing human population. Besides just being able to use land that isn’t suitable for crop production, cows are able to upcycle the discarded waste of other food productions. Many farmers incorporate fruit and vegetable scraps from other farms and food processing facilities into their cows’ diets. Even some schools and universities are able to send their food scraps that would otherwise end up in a landfill to dairy farmers in their local area and reduce their food waste.
Reducing Waste
Dairy farms are fantastic recyclers! Food scraps are recycled back into the food system, and nutrients and energy are also cycled back into the farm to create a more self-sufficient system. Additionally, properly managed cow manure can be spread back onto fields and help crops to grow while reducing the need for additional fertilizer. While this may seem like an old-fashioned farming practice, modern sampling and soil testing techniques have allowed farmers to be more precise with their manure and fertilizer additions to the soil and it is so important for soil health. This allows the farmers to reuse the left-over nutrients in the cow manure while also reducing the harmful environmental effects that over application can cause downstream.
Some farms in the United States even have the ability to recycle their cow manure, milk room waste water, dirtied straw, and rejected feed, and convert it into the energy needed to provide heat and electricity for the farm and even the local community. Using an aerobic digester, biogas is created and the energy from that process is used as an alternative to fossil fuels.
Besides recycling waste on the farm, some dairy suppliers are also reducing their pollution at the consumer level. Glass bottles are making a comeback in grocery stores across the country as our awareness of plastic pollution is on the rise.While the milkman no longer delivers fresh milk to your front door, glass bottles filled with fresh, local milk can be found in grocery stores around the United States. These bottles are returned and reused an estimated 4 to 6 times before reentering the recycling system. Consumers can reduce their plastic pollution while also supporting local business.
Thinking Global by Eating Local
There are more than 40,000 dairy farms in the US, and they’re located across all 50 states. Because it is highly perishable, milk is local wherever you go! From grocery stores to Starbucks, fresh milk is sourced locally by businesses across the country. Other alternative milk products such as almonds and oats are ecologically more restricted on where and when they can be grown and processed. Local dairy products not only limit their carbon emissions by reducing transportation, but it keeps jobs and revenue in the local community.
Whether you choose to consume dairy products or not, it is important to remember that the dairy industry is constantly evolving and using modern technology to make improvements. The entire basis of agriculture is the environment itself which is why farmers have to be especially conscious of the choices they make. Most of the negatives of the dairy industry are due to a slow adoption of sustainable techniques because they can be expensive for farmers who often barely make profit on their product. Consider supporting local dairy production where you can find out about sustainable practices and use it as an excuse to get to know your food even better.
This article was written by a guest contributor, Maddy Kinnear. Read about Maddy here. Are you interested in writing a contributing article to continue this discussion? Or are you interested in writing about something else in the food industry? Contact Us at anytime with proposals, we’d love to hear from you!
Sources:
Watson, E. (2018, July 30). US retail sales of plant-based milk up 9%, plant-based meat up 24% YoY. Retrieved from https://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Article/2018/07/30/US-retail-sales-of-plant-based-milk-up-9-plant-based-meat-up-24-YoY#
Hoelting, F. B., & Walker, P. M. (2003, July 2). Illinois State University to recycle dining center food and paper wastes into cattle feed. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0960852494901775?via=ihub
Cothren, J., & Gryder, J. A. (2014, December 16). Advantages of Crop Rotation. Retrieved from https://wilkes.ces.ncsu.edu/2014/12/advantages-of-crop-rotation/
Pelletier N, Pirog R, Rasmussen R. 2010. Comparative Life Cycle Environmental Impacts of Three Beef Production Strategies in the Upper Midwestern United States in Agricultural Systems. http://www.leopold.iastate.edu/research/marketing_files/Pelletier_Agricultural_Systems_beef.pdf
Biogas from Manure. (2020, February 18). Retrieved from https://extension.psu.edu/biogas-from-manure
It Just Tastes Better - 5 Reasons to Buy Milk in Glass Bottles. (2018, September 17). Retrieved from https://www.stanpacnet.com/milk-in-glass-bottles-tastes-better/
Dairy in the Midwest. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.midwestdairy.com/retailers/dairy-farms-in-the-midwest/
More Grounded Grub articles about dairy:
Dealing with Dairy Pt. 1: Milk and Cream: Read it here.
Dealing with Dairy Pt. 2: Cheese: Read it here.
Dealing with Dairy Pt. 3: Yogurt: Read it here.
Dealing with Dairy: Resilience in a Changing Market: Read it here.
