By Vaughan Koopman
As more and more focus is placed on reducing environmental footprint by farming in general and particularly in the milk industry, farmers as well as producers of milk products and by-products are innovating to create long term sustainable solutions to ensure the ongoing efficiency and supply of milk and related products to the end user.
Central to this approach is a focus on Regenerative Agriculture, which in essence is a combined set of practices that strengthen agricultural resilience.
As an industry that is heavily reliant on milk supply and ensuring quality at all times, regenerative agriculture is essential to our ongoing sustainability as a business and of course, as part of our commitment to both the planet and the people which we serve.
For example, from a Danone perspective as part of our Impact Journey, this year we reframed our sustainability goals under three goals, one being Nature. It is under this pillar that we have set clear KPI’s rooted in our commitment to regenerative agriculture. By prioritising soil health, biodiversity, and animal welfare, we are not only reducing our environmental impact but also creating a more resilient and sustainable food system for the future.
By focusing on these three core pillars not only are we supporting the growth of the dairy farming sector but essentially optimising solutions that aim to protect the planet – soil, water, biodiversity and animals – which form part of the value chain.
Some of the key regenerative practices include managing the intensity of tillage of the soil, protecting the soil with cover crops, improving soil fertility with crop rotations, having multi-species pastures and monitoring the content of soil organic matter, soil biology and nutrient status. Healthy soils reduce weed and pest loads which minimizes use of herbicides and pesticides. And lastly, as a water scarce and drought prone country, we encourage our farmers to adopt precision irrigation practices.
There are many incredible farms and farmers out there that can make a fundamental difference to the industry.
As such, a starting point, partnerships with the private sector, especially to support emerging black farmers, to bolster farming to meet the country’s transformation in agriculture objectives. Emerging farmers require the opportunity to grow their skills and become more sustainable while ensuring that the very best milk is produced while placing the environment front and centre.
For example, we recently entered into a R75 million per annum partnership with Ncora Dairy farm in the Eastern Cape. The farm milks approximately 2 400 jersey crossbred milking cows producing approximately 10.5 million litres of milk per annum. More than this however, this deal will indirectly benefit over 1 200 community members living within the vicinity of the farm, and approximately 53 individuals from the community permanently employed.
Through this partnership, Ncora Dairy is being supported d to implement a range of relevant regenerative agriculture practices to improve their soil fertility, energy usage and irrigation efficacy. For example, healthy soils have a 20 to 40% higher water-holding capacity than conventionally managed soils and in some areas, water springs that dried up several years ago have begun to flow again due to new regenerative farming.
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So how is this done?
Creating partnerships to improve global understanding of how agricultural practices can help nourish and protect soil health is critical. This needs to be done at multiple layers including through worldwide initiatives (such as COP21’s 4 for 1000), through projects with farmers and suppliers, or collaborative partnerships with peers throughout the supply chain and research institutions. For example, scientists have shown its possible to increase soil carbon levels by as much as 20 tonnes per hectare per year. The Soil Food Web School states it has been estimated that by regenerating the worlds agricultural soils we can take atmospheric carbon levels back to the ‘safe level’ as defined by the Inured Nations IPCC within 15 years or less.
From a water perspective, we are seeing a growing movement in circularity and sustainability practices within the industry, where for example, a water stewardship program was initiated by WWF-SA, which looks at driving innovations in water management, recycling, and effluent treatment by dairy farms. to improve water their resilience, operational efficiencies an impact on the water ecosystem.
However, to ensure we have a lasting impact, we need to be on a constant journey of innovation to reach our goals and drive ongoing support of our farmers and planet.
The South African dairy market has around 1000 dairy farms with around 20% of the farms having herds larger than 1000 cows. Dairy farms employ roughly 26,000 people. The volume of raw milk is expected to amount to 0.44bn kg by 2028and the market is expected to show a volume growth of 0.8% in 2024 with an average volume per person to be around 6.86kg in 2023.
These stats indicate that not only is this a substantial market in South Africa in terms of contribution to GDP but essentially, contributes largely to employment and ongoing food security – all of which are major challenges in the country. As such, effective farming that is sustainable and ensures the ongoing growth of the sector is critical. Key here, however, is the fact that without the preservation of soil and water, there will be no dairy farming and so – this is a core component of ongoing industry sustainability.
This all starts with the empowerment of farmers. Without the support of farmers in the sector, we will not have sustainable farms and the impact on production would be massive – driving down milk and milk product production and essentially creating a nutritional gap in the South African food sector – something we absolutely cannot afford.
Farmers work is indispensable to the global economy and the food system. They know their land best and our goal is to support the ability of farmers to transition effectively and profitably. Supporting farmers in transitioning or expanding on Regenerative Agriculture, without impacting on profit margins is critical to ongoing effectiveness of the sector allowing them to project and invest into the future.
Agriculture is facing major challenges such as economic investment, climate change, water scarcity, high input cost inflation and soil fertility loss, with a competitive, deregulated market in South Africa competing against countries with large research budgets and agricultural subsidies. It is therefore critical to create models that support sustainable farming and drive solid investment.
Danone is determined to help overcome these challenges by developing new business models that can regenerate the planet while feeding a local population that is set to surpass 66 million by 2030.
In South Africa we have a lot of rich land with many eager and up and coming farmers that are more driven than ever to succeed in this sector .We need to harness this in a way that we can drive further sustainable solutions to creating not only more dairy farms that are able to operate at scale and support the larger industry but essentially, farms that are agriculturally sound and adapted for long term preservation to ensure the ongoing supply of safe, quality milk and milk products over the years to come.
Vaughan Koopman is a milk producer and regenerative agriculture manager, Danone Southern Africa.
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