Sustainability

Sustainable Dairy Supply Chains

At DFA, sustainability is about more than our environmental footprint.

It involves helping our members ensure that their farms remain viable to pass down through generations. It means manufacturing nutritious dairy products that are consumed by people around the world. It means training our employees and improving our performance to guarantee that our Cooperative remains successful. It means supporting our communities through volunteering our time, donating our products, and ensuring the future of the dairy industry by investing in tomorrow’s agriculture leaders.

Sustainability means taking an active role in ensuring that our members, our Cooperative and our industry are able to make a difference for lifetimes to come.

Some of DFA’s efforts include:

• Renewable energy – Methane digesters can turn cow manure into natural gas that can be used to power homes and equipment. We are looking at how to make methane digesters an affordable investment with a profitable return for our members.  In addition, DFA offers resources and consulting service to members interested in incorporating wind or solar energy on their operations.
• Gold Standard Dairy Program – DFA’s Gold Standard Dairy Program rewards producers who engage in sustainable practices and produce high-quality milk.
• Energy conservation – Our dairies, plants and offices are actively implementing ways to use less energy.
• Recycling – DFA offices and plants participate in local recycling where available.
• Package reduction – DFA looks to create less waste in our landfills by reducing the needed packaging on the dairy products we create.
• Transportation efficiency – We are working to optimize transportation routes and are using idle-monitoring technology to conserve fuel.