Yet again, the workforce is preparing to welcome a new generation. Generation Z is growing older, and their influence on society is expanding.
To many, this predicament represents an interesting and perhaps frightening realization that Gen Z, like their millennial predecessors, is one additional generation removed from firsthand farming knowledge. To put it simply, it is more than likely this cohort was not raised by parents who grew up on a farm – and may not even be connected to farming through their grandparents or great-grandparents.
With this considered, it is no wonder so many discussions in agriculture revolve around strategies to bridge the gap between farmers and consumers. Sustainability continues to be at the core of many of these discussions and often presents a mounting challenge in the pursuit of tighter liaisons between the agricultural industry and consumers.
To contemplate the multifaceted issue of sustainability in Canadian dairy and what is currently being done, along with the areas in need of improvement, three industry insiders shared their thoughts during a panel discussion at this year’s Grey Bruce Farmers Week held on Jan. 6. The three “Sustainability of the Dairy Industry” panelists were:
- Nick Betts, director of the Americas at SAI Platform, a non-profit which brings together over 150 members globally to form a collaborative group and connect different avenues of sustainability in agriculture.
- Guy Séguin, a systems engineer at Dairy Farmers of Ontario (DFO). He has worked closely with DFO and Dairy Farmers of Canada (DFC) for the past 18 years and helped DFC in developing the proAction initiative and environment programs.
- Brownwynne Wilton, principal and lead consultant for Wilton Consulting Group. She specializes in a systems approach, rooted in her knowledge of social, economic and environmental aspects of the Canadian agri-food system, to find innovative solutions for the sector.
What is the dairy industry doing right in terms of sustainability?
BETTS: Tech investment, but also research investment. That’s a huge piece. We are very fortunate to come from such a good place with that, especially in dairy.
SÉGUIN: When we look at the whole industry over the last few years, there’s been very little waste in terms of milk. We have managed to respond to the public in a timely fashion; I think this is pretty impressive.
WILTON: We see more and more, in the sustainability space, that it’s not so much checking boxes but showing evidence of the practices happening (or changing or evolving) at the farm level. I think that’ll be important to keep in mind and [proAction is] a great starting point. I see it as a positive to start with a familiar program and tool that has quite a bit of research and education elements around it.
Being open and transparent is a big part of the sustainability story, so trying to show those practices and explain what’s happening from a research perspective to improve things that are helping environmental, social or economic issues is another positive.
What are the risks? Where can dairy farmers do better?
BETTS: What the pandemic has really done at a global level is: One, it has made a lot of companies realize they don’t have the transparency they thought they did through the supply chain. Two, it has made real things like climate change, and it has made real the fact that risks do have real impacts on supply chains, in ways we didn’t know of before. When we are looking at traits like this, we can see it has led many companies to accelerate their plans and their targets, and a lot of these are targeted at their investors, not consumers.
[Many companies are] targeting crops and products with high footprints, and because milk is what it is, it has a higher footprint. It can sometimes seem like they’re vilifying it, but I’d like to flip that around.
WILTON: Some of the risks involve what the supply chain is looking for. This is something dairy farmers should be thinking about and getting ready for. [Yes, you might] have an environmental farm plan, and you can check that you have a valid up-to-date plan, but maybe you don’t have the extra steps to say, “Yes, those practices are actually in place.”
How can the industry come to a middle ground with consumers and how can we collaborate?
BETTS: When we go to the table to talk about sustainability, we must talk about farmers. We cannot talk about dairy farmers and beef farmers and crop farmers, but farmers. It’s a nuanced piece, but it is important because it goes along with the idea that we need to find something which works across the spectrum and has a cohesive approach.
SÉGUIN: One of the reasons proAction was easy to sell was simply because it was for farmers by farmers. The reality is: Farmers were harder on themselves than if we had brought anybody else to the table. ProAction was easier to sell because farmers knew what they wanted, and they knew the right things to do. There was no greenwashing.
WILTON: Collaboration is key to the whole sustainability discussion. The Canadian Agri-Food Sustainability Initiative (CASI) [which is in development] would be an online portal platform where a farmer could participate. It would incorporate collaboration behind the scenes between things like proAction, the environmental farm plan programs across the country, the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef and perhaps SAI Platform. All these things could be happening behind the scenes and, from a farmer’s perspective, there would be an easy way to upload certificates of completion or different programs and have things validated to streamline all these sustainability standards and meet those market demands.
How do we, as farmers, make sure the economic pillar of sustainability stays in place and that it does not become another cost without the return to go along with it?
BETTS: If we can take a real, concerted look at our farm businesses and understand where the critical path is, where the Lean elements are and what the “fat” is, it will really increase the competitiveness of the sector and increase the competitiveness of farms, even within their sphere of knowledge and their sphere of influence.
SÉGUIN: From a social and economic point of view, we’re getting to the 100-cow average in Ontario. It is a spot where there are too many cows to milk in a tiestall barn and almost not enough cows to milk in a freestall barn; it’s in between, and it’s a very hard economic decision to make. Coupled with the fact there is no quota, it creates restrictions. From an economic point of view, this presents a real challenge I see for the future.
As dairy farmers, what can we expect, on the social side, to see included in the sustainability picture?
WILTON: We often think of research in terms of technical, hard science, but there’s a lot of great research being done at our universities around animal welfare and animal care. Those things need continued investment, and they need to be communicated through the supply chain and out to consumers to increase their understanding of exactly what [cow well-being looks like].
Another thing to keep an eye on is what is taking place in terms of diversity, equity, inclusion and making sure our workforce is reflective of Ontario’s population.
