Caring Dairy: A Sustainable Dairy Farming Initiative in Europe

Interest in the concept of sustainability in dairy farming has grown as a result of the continuous pressure on farm incomes, occurrence of animal diseases with a major impact on the image of dairy farming, concerns about animal welfare, and environmental problems caused by agriculture. There are, however, still many gaps in the knowledge regarding sustainable dairy farming. Respecting the earth and the environment and "giving back to community" is a fully integrated part of the Mission Statement of ice cream maker Ben & Jerry's. Following this mission, they have initiated a sustainable dairy farming project, "Caring Dairy", for the European production based in the Netherlands. The aim of Caring Dairy is to secure dairy production in a more sustainable way and to develop guidelines for Sustainable Dairy Farming Practices (SDFP). The approach of Caring Dairy is based on Unilever's sustainable agriculture approach. At this moment 11 dairy farmers participate in Caring Dairy and a baseline measurement for all 11 indicators (soil fertility and health, soil loss, nutrients, pest management, biodiversity, energy, water, farm economics, social human capital, local economy and animal welfare) has been done from where improvement plans, both on a strategic and indicator specific level, have been developed tailored to the specific situation and priorities of the individual farmers. An iterative process of implementation of the improvement plans, measurement, analysis and re-adjusting the plans will lead ultimately to the guidelines for SDFP. Caring Dairy shows the innovation power of supply chains by the bottom-up development of good dairy farming practices in cooperation with all relevant supply chain partners, which goes beyond existing initiatives related to sustainability in the dairy sector.Sustainability, Dairy farming, Strategic management, Bottom-up approach, Chain partners, Livestock Production/Industries,

Caring Dairy: A Sustainable Dairy Farming Initiative in Europe

Interest in the concept of sustainability in dairy farming has grown as a result of the continuous pressure on farm incomes, occurrence of animal diseases with a major impact on the image of dairy farming, concerns about animal welfare, and environmental problems caused by agriculture. There are, however, still many gaps in the knowledge regarding sustainable dairy farming. Respecting the earth and the environment and "giving back to community" is a fully integrated part of the Mission Statement of ice cream maker Ben & Jerry's. Following this mission, they have initiated a sustainable dairy farming project, "Caring Dairy", for the European production based in the Netherlands. The aim of Caring Dairy is to secure dairy production in a more sustainable way and to develop guidelines for Sustainable Dairy Farming Practices (SDFP). The approach of Caring Dairy is based on Unilever's sustainable agriculture approach. At this moment 11 dairy farmers participate in Caring Dairy and a baseline measurement for all 11 indicators (soil fertility and health, soil loss, nutrients, pest management, biodiversity, energy, water, farm economics, social human capital, local economy and animal welfare) has been done from where improvement plans, both on a strategic and indicator specific level, have been developed tailored to the specific situation and priorities of the individual farmers. An iterative process of implementation of the improvement plans, measurement, analysis and re-adjusting the plans will lead ultimately to the guidelines for SDFP. Caring Dairy shows the innovation power of supply chains by the bottom-up development of good dairy farming practices in cooperation with all relevant supply chain partners, which goes beyond existing initiatives related to sustainability in the dairy sector

Duurzaamheidsafspraken in de landbouw : horizontale en verticale overeenkomsten in de landbouw ten behoeve van natuur, milieu, klimaat, dierenwelzijn en het verdienvermogen van de agrarisch ondernemer

Voor verduurzaming van de landbouw is een goed verdienvermogen voor de landbouwers nodig. Naast steun van de overheid (dus de belastingbetaler) voor duurzame productie, zullen consumenten de duurdere duurzame producten ook moeten afnemen en zal de meerprijs die zij betalen via de keten moeten worden doorgegeven aan de producent. Daarvoor zijn duurzaamheidsafspraken nodig tussen landbouwers en ketenpartijen, aanvullend aan bestaande initiatieven en keurmerken. In dit onderzoek wordt de ruimte onderzocht om rechtmatig private duurzaamheidsafspraken te maken. Onder het kartelverbod in het EU-verdrag is die ruimte beperkt en onvoldoende werkbaar in de praktijk. De GMO-verordening biedt verschillende derogaties op het kartelverbod, die mogelijkheden bieden aan landbouwers en verenigingen van landbouwers om duurzaamheidsafspraken te maken. In de GLB-herziening van 2021 is die ruimte uitgebreid met een artikel (210bis), dat speciaal voor dit doel is toegevoegd. Dit biedt grote kansen. Het moet gaan om ambitieuze bovenwettelijke initiatieven en de afspraken moeten worden gemaakt vanuit of met de landbouwers (onderlinge afspraken binnen de retail of de verwerkende industrie zonder de landbouwers blijven vallen onder het kartelverbod). Voorwaarde is ook dat de afspraken in hun uitwerking onontbeerlijk zijn om het gestelde duurzaamheidsdoel te realiseren (geen greenwashing). Daarnaast kunnen andere derogaties in de GMO-verordening worden benut, met name voor erkende producentenorganisaties (Art. 152) en andere verenigingen van landbouwers (Art. 209) in combinatie met waardeverdelingclausules (Art. 172bis). Betere prijzen voor landbouwers voor duurzame producten betekenen hogere kosten voor de consument voor diens voedsel. Verduurzaming van de landbouw leidt echter ook tot maatschappelijke voordelen en financiële ruimte om burgers te compenseren die door de hogere voedselprijzen in de knel komen

Sustainability agreements in agriculture : Horizontal and vertical agreements in agriculture for the benefit of nature, the environment, the climate, animal welfare and the earning capacity of farmers

Enhancing the sustainability of agriculture requires a better earning capacity for farmers. Besides government (i.e. taxpayer) support for sustainable production, consumers will have to buy the more expensive sustainable products and the extra price they pay will have to be passed on to the producer through the chain. This will require sustainability agreements between farmers and chain parties, complementary to existing initiatives and labels. This study examines the scope for lawful private sustainability agreements. Under the cartel prohibition in the EU Treaty, the possibilities are limited and insufficiently workable in practice. The CMO regulation offers several derogations to the cartel prohibition, which provide opportunities for farmers and farmers' associations to make sustainability agreements. In the 2021 CAP review, that space has been extended with an article (210a) added specifically for this purpose. This offers great opportunities. The agreements must be ambitious, exceed existing legal requirements and must be made by or with farmers (mutual agreements within the retail or processing industry without participation of farmers remain under the cartel prohibition). Another condition is that the agreements are indispensable to achieve the stated sustainability objective (no greenwashing). In addition, other derogations in the CMO regulation can be used, in particular for recognised producer organisations (Art. 152) and other farmers' associations (Art. 209) in combination with value distribution clauses (Art. 172a). Better prices for farmers for sustainable products mean higher costs for consumers for their food. However, making agriculture more sustainable also leads to societal benefits and financial space to compensate citizens who cannot afford higher food prices