The Danish group talked about the ‘green transition’ agriculture in the country is currently going through and explained how this would affect farming practices.
Jan Bay-Smidt, the Minister Counsellor for Food and Agriculture at the Danish Embassy in London explained the overall transition process, which is aiming for a 70% reduction in greenhouse gasses by 2030.
Technology developments
Peter Raundal from SEGES Innovation (Denmark’s equivalent to the AHDB) talked about some of the technology that has been developed to help Danish dairy farmers reduce emissions, which includes a livestock database that can help improve farm management and reduce emission levels. It draws information from cattle registrations, vets, markets, milk recorders and slaughterhouses.
Farmer Kaare Larsen explained how the transition was affecting his farm, where he milks 180 Red Danish cows and grows barley.
Mr Larsen uses Bovaer, a feed supplement that has become controversial in the UK, but said his herd had suffered no ill-effects so far, and that whilst the emissions targets were a challenge, he was optimistic they could be met whilst retaining a productive dairy industry.
The Dairy Development Centre uses technology extensively to look after cows and monitor emissions and after the presentations the Danish group was able to have a look around the facility.
NFU lobbying work
The following day the group travelled to NFU HQ at Stoneleigh to hear about Defra’s aspirations and how the NFU is lobbying for both achievable and affordable objectives.
South dairy board chair Ian Harvey said: “It was good to understand both the ambition and the challenges the green transition will bring to Danish farmers.
“The Q&A session delivered valuable insight into to the similarities faced by the dairy industry in both countries.”
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