Dairy Farm Innovations Yield Big Environmental Benefits

Mar 24, 2023

From the parlor to the pasture, numerous advancements in dairy farm management are helping drive up dairy farm efficiency in North America, and that’s helping drive down environmental impact.

Everything starts with animal productivity. The North American dairy industry now requires 930,000 fewer cows to produce the same amount of milk as in 2007. Farm management practices, genetics, and animal care have all paved a major role in this achievement. However, technology is the key enabler to truly unlocking the maximum benefits of each of those practices.

“Over the past 15 years, the industry has gained a better understanding of how to go about managing a dairy animal,” said Chad Huyser, president of Lely North America. “Technology is allowing us to better understand the animal’s genetic potential and how we feed to that potential.”

Technology is also helping dairy farmers better understand how to manage some of the cost drivers around dairy. Advances in nutrient management and precision agriculture technologies are helping optimize the use of resources to more efficiently manage cropland. Sensor-based technologies are helping optimize feed ration quality which has a direct impact on milk yield. Altogether, dairy farmers are able to produce a lot more with a lot less—and that has a direct impact on the environment.

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.