Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative’s Climate-Smart project team met in Green Bay on July 17 to share project updates.
“It was energizing to have everyone together in one place to talk about our successes to date, but more importantly, to continue planning for the future,” says Lauren Brey, Director of Strategic Partnerships and Sustainability. “We have farmers, educators, engineers, data analysts, and representatives from dairy processors and consumer packaged goods companies. This mix of experts is a key to our success so far.”
Farmers for Sustainable Food team members shared how their team developed a customized approach for working directly with farmers for data collection. It’s based on their eight years of developing and managing sustainability projects and supporting farmer-led watershed conservation groups.
“Our year-one progress has exceeded our expectations,” says Jamie Fisher, FSF Senior Project Manager. “We have farmers representing over 37,000 acres and 23,000 cows in the program. We are now accepting year two enrollments and expect to continue increasing farmer involvement quickly.”
Program contractor EcoEngineers shared a thought-provoking presentation on the possibilities for data capture and transparency as the program evolves.
CEO Shashi Menon and VP of Growth and Strategic Development Laith Amin reviewed the framework for a new guidebook to help participants fully understand carbon markets, drivers of decarbonization, and supply chain data management. The team hopes to have the guidebook ready to launch early in 2025.
“It is such an exciting time for all of us partnering in this project to begin seeing the preliminary results from the on-farm efforts and the engaging conversations with everyone in the room,” says Brey. “The meeting energized us to keep moving forward with this important work.”
Farmer enrollment for year two of the project is now open: https://farmersforsustainablefood.com/climate-smart/
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