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| Cornell Study: Milk Production More Efficient, Lower Carbon Footprint (VIDEO) | | Ted Fioraliso | | |
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June 19, 2009
ITHACA -- Today's dairy farms use less land, feed, and water.
Even milk's gone green -- that's the conclusion of a new Cornell University study.
Sixty-five years ago, this country had the most dairy cows it’s ever had -- 26 million cows produced 118 billion gallons of milk in 1944.
Now, dairy farmers are getting 40 percent more milk, even though the number of cows is down to 9 million.
“We considered the whole picture -- from the cropping through to getting a product for the consumer,” said Cornell University nutritional biochemistry professor Dale Bauman.
For the past year, Bauman has researched the environmental impact of dairy production -- 1944 vs. 2007.
"We often hear the idea of the good old days, an idyllic picture of the cows on the pasture under the shady trees,” said Bauman.
Turns out the good ol' days weren't so good for the carbon footprint.
So what's changed over the past six decades?
“We’ve had things like genetics, where we've learned to identify and select the best cows, we've had the development of artificial insemination, so we can use the best sires for cows. We've gained knowledge about what are the exact nutrient needs of the cow,” he said.
And it's not just what's in the feed that's improved, but how the farmers harvest and store it.
Steve Palladino has worked at Hardie Farms in Lansing for 25 years.
“Everything we're doing is for the good of the cow, good for the consumer, good for the environment,” said Palladino.
Prof. Bauman’s study is published in the June 2009 issue of the Journal of Animal Science. CLICK HERE to read the abstract.
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