The Australian dairy industry is recognised for its proactive approach to environmental management,
an approach that is delivering significant outcomes in terms of on-farm change in environmental
practices.
The cornerstone of the Australian dairy industry's success in facilitating on-farm change is the industry-led Dairying for Tomorrow (DfT) program, managed by Dairy Australia. The projects and underlying philosophy of DfT actively encourage collaborative partnerships between the dairy industry and catchment managers to set on-farm targets for change that will contribute to healthy catchments and communities.
The DfT program began with the development of a national dairy industry strategy for natural resource management. Dairying for Tomorrow then took on the responsibility of laying the foundation for catchment-scale on-ground change, through a framework and strategy for the dairy regions to utilise and build upon. DfT provided what industry called a pathway for continuous improvement, where it worked with the 8 dairy Regional Development Programs to develop:
The cornerstone of the Australian dairy industry's success in facilitating on-farm change is the industry-led Dairying for Tomorrow (DfT) program, managed by Dairy Australia. The projects and underlying philosophy of DfT actively encourage collaborative partnerships between the dairy industry and catchment managers to set on-farm targets for change that will contribute to healthy catchments and communities.
The DfT program began with the development of a national dairy industry strategy for natural resource management. Dairying for Tomorrow then took on the responsibility of laying the foundation for catchment-scale on-ground change, through a framework and strategy for the dairy regions to utilise and build upon. DfT provided what industry called a pathway for continuous improvement, where it worked with the 8 dairy Regional Development Programs to develop:
- Regional Profiles - which provide a strategic overview of sustainable supply;
- Setting Targets for Change - promote farm practice change that would deliver the required regional environmental outcomes;
- Regional Action Plans - the commitment of how dairy regions work to deliver on the national strategy and achieve targeted changes;
- Research & Development - to ensure the relevant science is undertaken to provide rigour to on-farm change and catchment outcomes;
- On-Farm Change - to build the capacity of farmers and industry (eg using DairySAT);
- Monitoring & Evaluation - to ensure goals are attainable and being achieved.
