Nestlé and Vreugdenhil Dairy Foods launch major project to reduce greenhouse gases within dairy farming based on regenerative farming principles in the Netherlands. This is part of Nestlé Global ambition to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. Nestlé, Vreugdenhil Dairy Foods, Wageningen University and a small group of 17 enthusiastic pilot farmers are working on an approach that works together with nature, so-called regenerative farming. Nestlé and Vreugdenhil Dairy Foods will expand the project to support more than 250 farms with knowledge and financial resources to make the transition to regenerative dairy farming.
Regenerative agriculture
In recent months, 17 pioneering dairy farms in the Netherlands have taken the first steps in the transition to halve greenhouse gases. We do this by jointly identifying the various sources of greenhouse gases and reducing them. We then apply principles of regenerative agriculture. In this way, we improve soil and water quality, increase biodiversity and optimize agricultural processes. Cooperation and knowledge sharing are essential in this.
We mostly work according to the learning-by-doing principle. From science, we implement measures in practice, but because every farm is different, there is no our-size-fits-all approach. "Regenerative agriculture requires a collective chain approach if we want to make an impact. This is why we are proud to be working with our dairy farmers and Nestlé to come up with an approach that makes this possible," states Albert de Groot, CEO of Vreugdenhil.
One of the examples is sowing grass-clover which ensures reduced use of artificial fertilizers leading to CO2 reduction. It is also known that plots with grass clover are found more palatable by cattle and a higher protein content is obtained in the silage.
'The Netherlands is one of the most important agrarian countries for Nestlé worldwide. Based on the first successful implementations and broad enthusiasm among all stakeholders, we are going to roll out the project step by step more widely among another 250 dairy farms. We want to make an impact, which is why we are jointly investing over €50 million over the next few years to realize our ambition of halving our greenhouse gases by 2030.," said Nikki Adamo, CEO Nestlé Netherlands.
Collaboration throughout the foodchain
These days, when farmers are in the spotlight, it is extra important to work together on 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 supported and the investments needed for the transition to reduce greenhouse gases are financed by Nestlé and Vreugdenhil. Scientists from Wageningen University are closely monitoring the project and sharing knowledge. Halving greenhouse gases on the farm requires cooperation throughout the chain. Within the project, for instance, we work together with various farm suppliers such as compound feed companies, cultivation companies, technology suppliers and consultants. For these companies too, regenerative agriculture and circularity are important starting points for the agriculture of the future.
Tailor-made for the famer
In the transition that the 17 pioneering farmers are undertaking with their dairy farming, the farmers are in charge. In collaboration with the farmer, a tailor-made advice is drawn up, the so-called ''menu card''. This menu 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.
Tim van Noord, melkveehouder in Hellouw: "I took over the farming business from my father who in turn took it over from his father. I want my children too to have a future on this farm as well and for that change is needed. Nestlé and Vreugdenhil are giving me the financial resources and knowledge to make this transition and support me for a longer period until 2030. I am not alone, we are doing it together."
Nestlé's ambition: net-zero emissions by 2050
Climate change poses a risk to the future of food, with food production and consumption being a major source of greenhouse gas emissions. The regenerative agriculture project is part of a larger movement within Nestlé committed to halving its greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. Net-zero means the company will drastically reduce its farm-to-store greenhouse gas emissions and remove its remaining emissions from the atmosphere with projects within the own supply chain that store carbon in soils and trees.
Nestlé is promoting regenerative agriculture in its global food production chain with projects such as the NESCAFE Plan 2030, to make coffee farming more sustainable, the Income Accelerator Program, to help farmers transition to sustainable cocoa farming and now in the Netherlands by enabling the transition to halve greenhouse gas emissions at dairy farms.
Vreugdenhil's ambition: CO2 neutral from grass to glass in 2050
Together with all partners in the chain, Vreugdenhil Dairy Foods has made valuable steps towards sustainability in recent years. More and more dairy farmers are committed to protecting and restoring nature. In 2021, almost 70% of our dairy farmers took extra measures, such as meadow bird management, ditch edge management and the construction or protection of other landscape elements, to increase biodiversity on their land.
Our ambition is to be CO2 neutral from grass to glass by 2050. Together with internal and external stakeholders, we are working in various projects, of which the regenerative agriculture project with Nestlé is an important one, to shape this ambition. Over 94% of the dairy farmers who supply their nutritious product to Vreugdenhil participate in our sustainability program.