NEWS 102 FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE December 2025 Farmers for Sustainable Food and Edge Dairy Farmer Cooperative announced the launch of EmPower+, a program that connects farmer-led innovation directly to environmental goals of the dairy value chain. EmPower+ is described as offering data support services and a portfolio of production efficiency solutions designed to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The program pairs on-farm innovation with a robust accounting methodology to measure, report and verify emission reductions at the farm level. This farmer-led, data-driven initiative aims to create a practical, transparent path for verified emission reductions to be embedded directly into milk procurement, creating new opportunities to recognize and reward measurable environmental performance across the dairy value chain. “Dairy farmers have a long history of innovation and environmental stewardship and are ready to lead the next generation of solutions,” said Tim Trotter, CEO of Edge and its affiliate Farmers for Sustainable Food, which will administer the program. “Through EmPower+ we are building a collaborative, industry-aligned effort to promote and support farmer-led solutions to meet today’s environmental challenges,” Trotter added. Read more>> A comprehensive meta-analysis of 170 studies conducted across 21 European countries, led by Horizon EU project Agroecology-TRANSECT, finds that shifting to agroecological farming practices reduces agriculture’s negative impacts on nature and contributes to climate mitigation. The research, published in Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment journal, brings together scientific evidence showing that agroecology, an ecological, sustainable and integrated approach to farming, consistently benefits ecosystems and contributes to climate mitigation. Agroecology-TRANSECT’s Scientific Coordinator Bertrand Dumont says, “We now have key evidence that the benefits of agroecology are not a notion but a fact. The meta-analysis found that biodiversity increased under agroecological interventions compared to conventional farming methods.” By contrast, conventional farming, characterised by large scale, high input mono-systems, is recognised as a major driver of environmental degradation, including biodiversity loss and greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to the climate crisis. “We have been aware for several years that a shift to more sustainable systems is necessary across Europe, and agroecology has emerged as a viable alternative,” states Key Researcher Cian Blaix. “Until now, a comprehensive scientific review of its environmental benefits was lacking.” This new study combines data from arable, grassland, horticultural and perennial production systems. The findings show that agroecological practices outperform conventional methods in supporting biodiversity, including plants, pollinators, insects, and soil organisms. Read more>> New program aims to reduce dairy farm emissions New Study: Agroecology reduces agriculture’s negative impacts Photo: Edge Dairy Photo: Agroecology-TRANSECT Innovation Hub
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