‘My Footprint’ by Farmdesk: a tool to calculate the carbon footprint of milk

Near the milkpowder factory in Belgium lives and works Kris Ally, dairy farmer who cooperates with Royal A-ware since 2021. He runs a 140-cow farm with two milking robots, powered largely by self-generated renewable energy. Using rainwater harvesting and highly sustainable fertiliser, he continues to reduce his environmental impact, most recently by adopting Farmdesk’s ‘My Footprint’ tool to monitor and lower greenhouse gas emissions.

When Royal A-ware introduced the ‘My Footprint’ tool, he was already sold. ‘I was part of the founding committee of a tool developed by the Belgian government,’ says Kris. 'It had potential, but it was not user friendly. The topic came up again when I joined Royal A-ware's sounding board. That's when Royal A-ware brought up the Farmdesk tool. We tested it and it was much easier to use. Other farmers agreed; adoption among Belgian A-ware dairy farmers is very high.’

Farmer-proof
Still, completing the initial one-time onboarding process was quite a project. ‘It asked a lot of documentation, for example about feed rations. I'll admit I thought: here's another thing to add to my plate. But once you've done it, it becomes very easy. You can reuse data from previous years and make adjustments when things change. If you haven't made any adjustments, the system sends a reminder. It's very doable.’

Footprint premium as incentive
The footprint premium is a nice incentive: ‘It feels like a partnership, where the dairy farmer and Royal A-ware benefit equally. There is a healthy balance between the amount of work and the price premium you get in return. That is not always the case. It also gives dairy farmers that extra push to make a change, to reduce their carbon footprint.'
From the beginning, Kris's farm qualified for the footprint premium. It is valuable to understand how the carbon footprint is constructed so that dairy farmers have a better understanding of the levers to further reduce their footprint. ‘For me, the drive to improve comes naturally, but the premium is a welcome bonus.’

Sustainability pillars

Based on six pillars, we are constantly taking strategic measures to make our supply chains increasingly efficient and sustainable, so that all stakeholders benefit in the long term. Four of these – Greenhouse Gases, Product, Raw Materials and Dairy Farming – are closely linked to the links in our chain. The other two pillars – Employees and Respectful Collaboration – form the foundation and are essential for making our chains more efficient and sustainable.