ARLINGTON, VA – The National Dairy Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) Environmental Stewardship Program today released revisions to its Version 3 evaluation tool, integrating the latest scientific updates from the Ruminant Farm Systems (RuFaS) model that powers FARM ES Version 3.
“FARM Environmental Stewardship continues to adapt as science and technology advance within the dairy sector,” said Nicole Ayache, National Milk Producers Federation’s chief sustainability officer. “By integrating the latest model into the evaluation tool, farmers can better understand how practices affect their footprint and identify stewardship opportunities that align with business goals.”
Using RuFaS means FARM Environmental Stewardship benefits from a model that adapts as technology and scientific knowledge advance. Updating the platform upholds FARM Environmental Stewardship’s commitment to offer the best available scientific methods that work for farms of all sizes, geographies and production styles.
The new release includes features like the integration of homegrown feeds into the total farm footprint to better capture field-level practices. The scientific methodology that underpins the modeling of youngstock manure as well as manure storage have also been improved, with the latter more accurately sensitive to the effects of temperature.
FARM Environmental Stewardship provides a platform built by and for the U.S. dairy community, powered by peer-reviewed, credible science. U.S. dairy farmers are actively involved in shaping the program, unifying industry response to supply chain interests and helping to streamline sustainability measurement into one program. FARM ES showcases the great conservation work dairy farmers have done for generations, while increasingly serving as a gateway for farmers to access supply chain incentive projects and other mechanisms that directly support their stewardship efforts.
To learn more about FARM Environmental Stewardship, visit nationaldairyfarm.com.
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