NETHERLANDSThe Dutch multinational dairy cooperative, FrieslandCampina has announced that it will be availing an additional annual amount of €24 million (US$26.68m) to further stimulate sustainable development on the farm.

FrieslandCampina said that this extra investment is in line with the strategy to lead with sustainability and to offer the best nutrition with minimal environmental impact.

The higher member dairy farmers score within the quality and sustainability programme Foqus planet, the higher the financial contribution they receive.

The Foqus planet measures the environmental impact of a dairy farm, such as the amount of feed produced (protein from the own land), greenhouse gas emissions, nitrogen soil balance, ammonia emissions and permanent grassland, but also animal welfare and health among other things.

“FrieslandCampina wants to lead with sustainability, and we aim for a carbon-neutral chain,” said Hein Schumacher, CEO FrieslandCampina.

“That is hard work and that is what our members do. Already in 2014, they opted to encourage each other to achieve even better sustainability performance, and paying the best performers the most out of it.

“So, they have been improving in the field of sustainability for years and that is already leading to good results.

“To further stimulate this, we pay out an additional 24 million euros per year for sustainability efforts.

“And because we monitor how well our members are doing in a variety of areas at the farm level – from emissions of various greenhouse gases to animal welfare – we can also reward very specifically.

“If our customers continue to invest in this as well, such as through the higher contribution in the Netherlands for On the way to PlanetProof dairy, our members can improve even further.”

FrieslandCampina noted that in 2019 it also invested more in sustainability projects on and around the farm, encouraged members to switch to renewable energy sources.

These are part of the dairy co-operatives efforts to lead sustainability and aims to be CO2-neutral in the year 2050.