Fonterra’s low-emitting farmers to benefit from Mars, Nestlé funds

About 6000 Fonterra farms qualify for a $1500 reimbursement for an on-farm emissions reduction tool this season. Photo / Christine Cornege

By Monique Steele of RNZ

International food and beverage conglomerates Mars and Nestlé are helping fund Fonterra’s farmers to produce what it labels as “low-emissions milk”.

The dairy co-operative rewarded its farmer-suppliers for environmental and climate efforts through its “co-operative difference” scheme to drive sustainable farming.

Fonterra announced in February that its major international customers, Mars and Nestlé, would help separately fund two new incentives for farmers towards the production of low-emissions milk, which included the on-farm tools and a farmer incentive payment.

Around 6000 farms, or 87% of the co-op’s 8000 farmer suppliers, were estimated to qualify for a $1500 reimbursement for an on-farm emissions reduction tool this season.

Chris Appleby, director of On-Farm Excellence within Farm Source, said it received good interest from farmers on the new scheme.

“There’s been really good engagement with our farmers across the country on what was in behind that.”

Appleby said the tools were selected based on feedback from farmers over the past few months.

“Then, it’s about making sure that those solutions [are] scalable, available right across the country, and really importantly, [tools that] actually help and we know will make a difference in terms of increasing or supporting that emissions intensity reduction as well.”

Eligible farms under the co-operative difference scheme had to have emissions less than the co-op’s 2017/2018 baseline, accounting for emissions from feed, fertiliser, livestock and drained peat soils, with carbon offsets.

More farmers within the co-op were meeting this threshold over time, with 72% of its farmers achieving the base level or above in 2021/2022, 83% the following season and 87% in 2023/2024.