In order to position itself more broadly, the DMK Group also entered the vegan food segment in 2022 in addition to milk processing and now also produces vegan products in many business areas. In the cooperative, this approach also benefits the farmers via the milk money. In future, farmers could even participate directly in the production of vegan food, for example by growing the oats that form the basis for many vegan DMK products.
In addition to developing solutions for more climate protection and sustainability in agriculture, sustainable energy efficiency projects at the plants play an equally important role and contribute to the overall goal. The aim is to significantly reduce CO2 emissions at all DMK production sites in the future. The company is working in many areas to achieve its goals: from expanding its portfolio to include vegan products, reducing packaging waste and avoiding food waste, to extensive energy and water efficiency projects such as minimising residual substances in waste water or producing its own drinking water from "milk water", which is a by-product of milk and whey drying. The use of Bio LNG for DMK`s trucks in milk collection also makes a relevant contribution here. In addition, remote working and the move to a new, climate-friendly headquarters building are helping to improve DMK's carbon footprint.
At the beginning of 2022, as a first step, DMK introduced the so-called agricultural climate check on farms, which farmers can use to draw up their individual climate footprint and identify potential for improvement.
By joining the Science Based Target Initiative, the DMK Group has had the climate targets set out in its Strategy 2030 reviewed and validated. These targets are backed by specific areas of action in order to make an active contribution as a company to the Paris Climate Agreement and to limit global warming.
The target: The first step had been to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by a further 20% along the entire value chain by 2030. In the meantime, the company however has already extended its targets towards 2030 and had them valorised again by the SBTi. The new, higher FLAG target is now a 30.3% reduction in emissions in 2030 compared to 2022. Further steps and targets will follow as more knowledge is gained in order to be able to make well-founded statements.
The reduction target relates to all GHG emissions and therefore also to methane. Methane emissions have great leverage due to their high global warming potential and are the focus of efforts.
Cows are ruminants and release methane as part of their digestion, which is converted into CO2 in the atmosphere within twelve years. This is relatively fast. Plants utilise this CO2 for their nutrition - photosynthesis. Cows eat the grass and other plant parts such as rapeseed meal from the production of cooking oil, barley in brewer's grains, etc. - the CO2 cycle closes. Not all branches of these cycles can be modelled today. But one thing is clear: cows can only release as many emissions as they have previously absorbed. At the same time, the cow population in Germany is continuously declining. Methane emissions from all livestock farming in Germany, from cattle to pigs, have fallen by around 25 per cent between 1990 and 2021 and now account for almost five per cent in Germany. At DMK, CH4 emissions average 21.53g CH4 per kg of raw milk.
In addition to production and logistics, a particular focus of action in achieving the target is therefore the agricultural businesses, which have the greatest potential for reducing emissions in the dairy industry .
With the "Net Zero Farming" pilot project initiated by DMK in 2021 and launched in 2022, which is supported by a renowned group of experts, the company is generating insights and knowledge about how, at what cost and on what timeline reductions in CO2, methane and nitrous oxide are possible. In the next step, this knowledge will be used as the basis for more detailed targets for the various types of emissions. With its Net Zero Farms, DMK is working on further reducing emissions on the farms of its cooperatively organised farmers.
Initial findings from these pilot farms are already very promising. In the first pilot year alone, the measures implemented on these farms have already reduced emissions by more than 10%. The most effective measures from the entire project are to be transferred to all DMK Group farms.
The number of dairy farms has been declining for many years. Many farmers themselves do not want to increase the number of cows, because they want to be part of a solution that gives them a future, as ultimately their livelihood is at stake. Solutions are therefore needed that do justice to both the climate and the farms.
Transparency and reporting: In addition to the annual and sustainability report, DMK also publishes a responsibility report on its website, which provides a detailed overview of the measures already implemented and targeted by the company: Our Responsibility
