Climate declarations give farmers important data for climate accounts

DLG was the first agricultural company in Europe to start providing climate declarations for its feed compounds based on the international guidelines from GFLI. Climate declarations give farmers an overview of which levers can be pulled to take their production in a more sustainable direction without compromising productivity.
“Consumers are increasingly demanding that the products they buy are sustainable, and we must find solutions to ensure the most climate-efficient feeding practices – and in this respect farmers have been very positive about our climate declarations because they provide easy access to clearly presented data,” says Jesper Pagh, Executive Vice President at DLG.

An important step in the right direction

One of the farmers who has welcomed the climate declarations that come with the feed from DLG is Jesper Bang. He runs a farm with 250 jersey cows and 130 hectares of farmland in Håre on Funen.
“I think that DLG’s climate declaration of feed is brilliant and an important step in the right direction. As a dairy producer, I’m seeing an increase in expectations and demand from supermarket chains, in particular, for sustainable products, and of course the whole issue of climate change is attracting a lot of political attention. The climate declaration of feed products has a role to play here. By choosing feeds with a low climate footprint, I can contribute to a more sustainable environment. At the same time, I can hopefully make more money from my milk in the long term because consumers are demanding climate-friendly products, and because the feed settlement should become more attractive for me when I choose feeds with a low climate footprint,” says Jesper Bang, before continuing:
“I’m generally extremely keen to optimise and make the most of resources such as feed, diesel or power. What’s good for the climate is usually also good for my business because I save money by consuming less.”
Jesper Bang attaches great importance to the fact that the climate figures are calculated on the basis of a common European standard, which means that he can use and compare data from his various partners. At the same time, he hopes that it will one day be possible to import the climate declarations directly to the digital feed system DMS, where he registers his feed plans. That would make it even easier for him to extract data for his overall climate accounts.

Global demand expected to increase

Executive Vice President Jesper Pagh expects to see an increasing demand for feed products with climate declarations as food manufacturers and retail chains start demanding more documentation, for example of the climate footprint of individual farms.
So far, climate declarations are available for feed compounds in Denmark and Sweden, but the plan is to roll out declarations for more feed compounds in more markets.
“The climate declaration of feed is here to stay, and I expect climate declarations to be made available for a much wider portfolio of products in the foreseeable future because farmers want data,” says Jesper Pagh.