| Sustainable holdings - Dairy farming |
Sustainable business operations linked to better economic results?
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04/05/2023
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Sustainability score based on ecological sustainability and animal health
The analysis ranked all specialised dairy farms with a total sustainability score based on a selection of sustainability parameters, available in the Farm Accountancy Data Network. First, the group was streamlined to make it somewhat more homogenous in terms of business structure. For example, the analysis excluded farms producing less than 300,000 kg of milk, or more than 3 million kg, as well as extensive farms producing less than 10,000 kg of milk per ha, and intensive ones producing more than 25,000 kg of milk per ha. In the end, two thirds of the sampled businesses were included in the analysis.
These dairy farms were classified according to their results on a number of indicators related to the themes of animal health and welfare, climate and energy, environment, and biodiversity and grazing. The total sustainability score was calculated by allocating a score of 0–100 for each parameter. These scores were then added up to produce a total score using a weighting system. The average score of the entire group across all sustainability parameters would be 50 in a normal distribution. The weighting factors were selected to ensure that all four themes were taken into account equally (25% each).
The set of parameters chosen are established ones used in practice to assess the sustainability of dairy farms. See tables 2 and 4 for the parameters used. They focus on ecological sustainability (planet indicators) and animal health. Economic results have deliberately been excluded from the total sustainability score because the objective is to test the extent to which ‘ecological’ sustainability is bound to economic sustainability. In the analysis, the 25% of the farms with the highest total sustainability score were compared to the remaining 75% of dairy farms.
Table 1 Comparison of financial performance and farm setup between the 25% most sustainable dairy farms and the remaining 75% of the dairy farms, 2019-2021 |
| Financial performance | | | | | | | Income | Euro per unpaid awu | 41,562 | 24,802 | | | | Labour input | kg milk / hour | 222 | 225 | | | | Cost price | Euro / 100 kg | 42.02 | 43.63 | * | | | Critical milk price | Euro / 100 kg | 31.71 | 34.18 | ** | | | Milk price | Euro / 100 kg | 38.63 | 37.87 | | | | Costs purchased feed | Euro per cow | 939 | 1,068 | ** | | | Veterinarian costs | Euro per cow | 109 | 113 | | | | Solvency | % | 77 | 74 | | | | Long term debts | Euro / kg milk | 0.98 | 1.13 | | | | Farm setup | | | | | | | Dairy cows | number | 103 | 104 | | | | Utilised agricultural area | ha | 62 | 57 | | | | Share of grassland | % | 86 | 85 | | | | Milk production per farm | kg | 920,268 | 919,342 | | | | Milk production per cow | kg / cow | 8,968 | 8,844 | | | | Milk production per ha | kg / ha | 15,130 | 16,333 | * | | | Share soiltype Clay | % | 31 | 35 | | |
Table 2 Comparison of sustainability performance between the 25% most sustainable dairy farms and the remaining 75% of the dairy farms, 2019-2021 |
| Animal health and welfare | | 60 | 56 | | | | Somatic cell count | 1,000 cells per millilitre | 152 | 174 | ** | | | Replacement rate dairy cows | % | 18.4 | 20.8 | | | | Use of antibiotics | Average daily dose per animal year | 1.5 | 1.5 | | | | Climate and energy | | 64 | 50 | | | | Energy use | MJ per 100 kg milk | 47 | 59 | 0 | | | Greenhouse gas emissions (cradle-to-farm-gate) | Kg CO2-eq per kg milk | 1.27 | 1.37 | ** | | | Environment | | 66 | 57 | | | | Farm surplus | kg N per ha | 102 | 151 | ** | | | Environmental load use of pesticides | Points soil | 47 | 58 | * | | | Environmental load use of pesticides | Points groundwater | 54 | 73 | | | | Environmental load use of pesticides | Points surface water | 54 | 79 | | | | Phosphate excretion | kg P2O5Â per 1000 kg milk | 5 | 5.3 | * | | | Phosphate excretion | kg P2O5Â per 1000 kg milk | 10.2 | 12.5 | * | | | Ammonia emission | kg NH3 per 1000 kg milk | 23.8 | 30.4 | * | | | Biodiversity and grazing | | 50 | 25 | | | | Number of forms of nature management | Frequency (1 till max. 4) | 2.2 | 0.9 | ** | | | Grazing (hours per cow per year) | hours | 1,694 | 1,009 | ** | |
Table 3 Comparison of farm structure of dairy farms by scale and intensity, 2019-2021 |
| Farm setup | | | | | | | Dairy cows | number | 71 | 72 | 131 | 138 | | Utilised agricultural area | ha | 44 | 36 | 82 | 71 | | Share of grassland | % | 84 | 84 | 87 | 84 | | Milk production per farm | kg | 584,646 | 642,990 | 1,130,399 | 1,293,284 | | Milk production per cow | kg / cow | 8,220 | 8,883 | 8,612 | 9,378 | | Milk production per ha | kg / ha | 13,652 | 17,779 | 13,882 | 18,491 |
Table 4 Comparison of sustainability results of dairy farms by scale and intensity, 2019-2021 |
| Animal health and welfare | Score (x 100) | 59 | 57 | 59 | 57 | | Somatic cell count | 1,000 cells per millilitre | 173 | 163 | 163 | 171 | | Replacement rate dairy cows | % | 19.2 | 21.1 | 19.1 | 21.2 | | Use of antibiotics | Average daily dose per animal year | 1.5 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 1.7 | | Climate and energy | Score (x 100) | 50 | 51 | 56 | 57 | | Energy use | MJ per 100 kg milk | 55 | 58 | 55 | 56 | | Greenhouse gas emissions (cradle-to-farm-gate) | Kg CO2-eq per kg milk | 1.39 | 1.37 | 1.33 | 1.32 | | Environment | Score (x 100) | 56 | 61 | 63 | 60 | | Farm surplus | kg N per ha | 149 | 137 | 118 | 146 | | Environmental load use of pesticides | Points soil | 62 | 64 | 42 | 59 | | Environmental load use of pesticides | Points groundwater | 61 | 67 | 47 | 88 | | Environmental load use of pesticides | Points surface water | 100 | 56 | 42 | 84 | | Phosphate excretion | kg P2O5Â per 1000 kg milk | 5.6 | 5.1 | 5.4 | 5 | | Phosphate excretion | kg P2O5Â per 1000 kg milk | 12.4 | 11.5 | 10.6 | 12.6 | | Ammonia emission | kg NH3 per 1000 kg milk | 29.3 | 27 | 25 | 31.6 | | Biodiversity and grazing | Score (x 100) | 38 | 25 | 42 | 24 | | Number of forms of nature management | Frequency (1 till max. 4) | 1.4 | 0.8 | 1.7 | 1 | | Grazing (hours per cow per year) | hours | 1,501 | 1,087 | 1,573 | 808 | | Totaal Score | Score (x 100) | 51 | 48 | 55 | 49 |
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