(Judith L. Capper, Euridice Castaneda Gutierrez, Roger A. Cady, and Dale E. Bauman; Journal of Dairy Science, March 2009)
Reducing the Carbon Footprint of a Dairy Farm
Modern dairy practices can dramatically reduce the carbon footprint of farms according to a study featured in the latest edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study, “The Environmental Impact of Recombinant Bovine Somatotropin (rbST) use in Dairy Production,” demonstrated that use of rbST reduces the carbon footprint of milk production. rbST is a FDA-approved, proven-safe biotechnology that increases milk production and allows cows to use nutrients more efficiently by diluting out maintenance feed requirements over more units of milk. This allows the same amount of milk to be produced with fewer cows and feed resources, which improves environmental sustainability and reduces natural resources demand and the potential for water acidification, algae growth and global warming.
“Environmental sustainability is an important consideration in agricultural production, with emphasis placed upon meeting human food requirements while mitigating environmental impact. The present study demonstrates that use of rbST markedly improves the efficiency of milk production and mitigates environmental parameters including eutrophication and acidification, greenhouse gas emissions and fossil fuel use,” wrote the study’s authors. The authors of this life cycle assessment study include Cornell University Liberty Hyde Bailey professor Dale Bauman (corresponding author), Cornell University Post-Doctoral Research Associates Jude Capper (lead author) and Euridice Castandena-Gutierrez, and Monsanto scientist and Cornell alumnus Roger Cady. Read entire abstract...