Major project to halve farmers' greenhouse gases

Nestlé and Vreugdenhil Dairy Foods are launching a major project to reduce greenhouse gases within dairy farming based on regenerative farming principles in the Netherlands. Nestlé, Vreugdenhil Dairy Foods, Wageningen University and a small group of 17 enthusiastic pilot farmers are working on an approach that collaborates with nature, so-called regenerative farming. Nestlé and Vreugdenhil Dairy Foods will eventually expand the project to support more than 250 farms with knowledge and financial resources to make the transition to regenerative dairy farming. 

Regnerative agriculture

In recent months, 17 pioneering dairy farms in the Netherlands have taken the first steps in the transition to halve greenhouse gases. They are doing this by jointly identifying the various sources of greenhouse gases and reducing them. They then apply principles of regenerative agriculture. This way, they improve soil and water quality, increase biodiversity and optimise agricultural processes.

They mostly work according to the learning-by-doing principle. From science, they implement measures in practice, but because every farm is different, there is no our-size-fits-all approach.

Cooperation throughout the chain

In these times when farmers are regularly in the spotlight, it is extra important to work together to ensure the food supply for and of the future. The pilot group consists of farms on different soil types (clay, peat, sand) and with different strategies (from extensive to intensive). These pilot farms are intensively supervised and the investments needed for the transition to reduce greenhouse gases are financed by Nestlé and Vreugdenhil. This is done together with scientists from Wageningen University who are closely monitoring the project and sharing knowledge. The project involves cooperation with various farmyard stakeholders such as cultivation companies, compound feed companies, technology suppliers and consultants. 

Tailor-made for the farmer

In the transition that the pilot farmers go through with their businesses, they are in charge.  In cooperation with the farmer, a tailor-made advice is drawn up, the so-called 'menu card'. This contains various ways in which the farmer can make the farm future-proof by drastically reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The farmer himself knows best what works and suits the farm and chooses from this menu the measures that will be applied.

Nestle.nl