Environmental Stewardship - National Dairy FARM Program

Farmers are the original environmental stewards

The FARM Environmental Stewardship (ES) Program helps tell that story for dairy farmers.

Launched in 2017, FARM ES is a farm-level environmental assessment and customer assurance program. The core FARM ES evaluation provides a comprehensive estimate of greenhouse gas emissions on dairy farms, powered by the Ruminant Farm Systems (RuFaS) model. The program provides tools and resources for farmers to measure and improve their footprint. Data can be aggregated by dairy cooperatives and processors for reporting emissions to dairy buyers.

The Conservation Practice Questionnaire (CPQ) is an optional add-on to the FARM Environmental Stewardship evaluation that addresses field and dairy-level conservation activities to capture a more holistic sustainability story.

FARM ES Version 3

FARM ES Version 3 launched Oct. 2024, with an updated greenhouse gas model that offers robust what-if scenarios so farmers can assess the impacts of potential practice or technology adoption. The tool equips farms to make decisions that align with sustainability and economic goals for their farms.

Version 3 offers farms an advanced, more refined output compared to previous versions of the program, including estimates of carbon sequestration. Version 3 also contains optional data inputs, such as details on reproductive programs, culling information, and field practices, for more tailored results.

Version 3 Development

FARM Environmental Stewardship Conservation Practice Questionnaire

FARM Environmental Stewardship launched the Conservation Practice Questionnaire (CPQ) in 2022, an optional add-on questionnaire to the FARM Environmental Stewardship evaluation. The CPQ goes beyond greenhouse gas emissions and energy use, to ask about dairy farmers’ field and dairy-level conservation practices to capture a more holistic sustainability story.

Organizations that participate in FARM Environmental Stewardship have the option to voluntarily use the CPQ. Organizations may choose not to use the CPQ with no impact on their participation in FARM Environmental Stewardship otherwise.