Dairy Sustainability Key Performance Indicators Nutrient Management Spear Program

The dairy industry in New York state and in the entire US is increasingly asked to report more sustainability indicators, including ones related to greenhouse gas emissions, water use, water quality impacts, animal and plant production efficiencies, animal welfare, and biodiversity on farms. Therefore, key performance indicators (KPIs) are needed, as well as user-friendly and effective tools that accompany them. In this project we are assessing a variety of KPI-related tools for their sustainability credentials (how comprehensive the tool is), their data input needs (amount and complexity of data), and the comparability of their results. Biodiversity in particular is of increasing interest for consumer and retailers and this is now incorporated in the project along with other sustainability metrics.

As part of this larger research project, to assess environmental outcomes of dairy farms in NY state using multiple sustainability assessments platforms available in the US, Cornell is utilizing the farm-level biodiversity assessment in the Fieldprint Platform.

Active
Incubation

Engagement Targets

Notes: (1) I Minor fluctuations in the number of retained growers is expected from year to year. These fluctuations may be due to year-over-year crop rotation effects or other factors beyond the control of the project. Enrolled acres represent the total number of acres on an individual farm in a specific year. The ability to report enrolled acres is based on the Fieldprint Project Standard requirement that individual growers enrolled in projects enter at least 10% of the acres managed for a specific crop. (2) Entered acres represent the actual number of enrolled acres for which data is entered in the Fieldprint Platform for analysis.

Objectives

Document the farm-level biodiversity through the Fieldprint Platform on 10 case-study New York dairy farms.
2022

During the fall of 2021 and spring of 2022, project leaders reached out to dairy producers in New York State to participate in the project. A series of paper surveys were created for producers to provide the data needed to complete Field to Market's farm-level biodiversity assessment. During the spring and summer of 2022, completed surveys from 5 farmers in New York were entered into the Field Print platform. Results from the platform were incorporated into farmer reports, and discussed with participating producers. Data for the 5 farms entered into the Fieldprint Platform include a total of 6022 cultivated acres and 7841 non-cultivated acres. A meeting was held during August 2022 with Field to Market leadership to discuss lessons learned applying the farm-level biodiversity assessment in New York Dairy Farms. The project is temporarily on hold, but will re-start towards the end of 2023.

Participants

Project Lead Organization(s)
Cornell University Atkinson Center for Sustainability (Full)