Arla Foods Consolidated Annual Report 2021

26 Arla Foods Consolidated Annual Report 2021 / Our sustainability journey / Sustainability on farms SUSTAINABILITY ON FARMS Contents Dairy is part of a healthy and sustainable diet due to its nutrient density. And, as is the case for all food production, it comes with a carbon cost. As part of the food industry, we have a great responsibility - and at the same time a great opportunity - to do something about it. 83 per cent of our emissions come from farms, so that is where we focus most of our efforts to reduce our carbon footprint. Arla farmers have reduced their emissions by 23 per cent since 1990, and with our new global Climate Check tool launched in 2019 we can now track and guide their progress better. In 2021, 93 per cent of our farmer owners answered the Climate Check's 203 questions, covering feed, energy use, manure management, housing and multiple other relevant topics. Their answers were validated by external experts who also gave each of the farmers a personalised plan to reduce their climate footprint. Based on the extensive data collected with the Climate Check tool, we can say that our farmers are amongst the most climate-efficient dairy farmers in the world with 1.15 kg of CO2e per kg of milk. But this is just the beginning. The number is not a result - it is a baseline for how to improve. With their personalised climate action plans, our farmer owners now have a clear blueprint for how they can triple the speed of CO₂ze reductions on their farms during this decade. They will focus on five key areas. THE FIVE MOST EFFECTIVE CLIMATE ACTIONS ON FARM More milk per feed A cow's feed has a big influence on how much milk it produces. If farmers manage to maximise the milk per feed ratio and minimise feed waste, the milk will be more climate efficient. Feeding precise protein amounts Cows need protein to stay healthy and produce milk but, like humans, they excrete unnecessary protein. Carefully measuring feed with the right protein levels means less nitrogen, a greenhouse gas, in the manure. Healthy and happy cows Cows that live a long and healthy life will produce more milk over their lifetime which improves climate efficiency. Just the right amount of fertiliser Crops grow better if they are fertilised, but fertilisers emit greenhouse gasses. Matching precisely the amount of fertiliser with the plants' needs and using different methods to spread the muck can improve the yield per carbon emission ratio. Better feed crop yield A lot of our farmer owners produce feed for their cows, which is great, because imported feed carries a higher carbon footprint. Feed yield can also be optimised to increase climate efficiency. 66 Our farmers are amongst the most climate-efficient dairy farmers in the world with 1.15 kg of CO2e per kg of milk 99 Result of our Climate Check programme Animal welfare at Arla In Arla we strongly believe that animals should be treated well, and the welfare of our herds is a key concern for our customers and consumers too. We do not take it lightly to ensure that Arla cows are well-cared for: our owners have to submit an extensive report on their herds' well-being four times a year. To have an even clearer picture of animal welfare on farms, Arla also gathers data from the National Herd Databases of our owner countries to obtain information concerning the average lifespan, mortality and the average age of the cows at first calving. In an audit process harmonized across all owner countries, farmers are also visited by external experts specialized in animal welfare at least once every three years, to have their self-reported data validated and their herds checked-on. We report the result of these audits in our ESG section Check our data in the ESG report |||

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