The Power of Collaboration

Dr Emma Gregson, Environment Manager, Dairy UK

Science often struggles to reach farmers not because it lacks value, but because of structural, social, and practical barriers. My work through collaborative initiatives such as The Dairy Roadmap, the International Dairy Federation and the Dairy Sustainability Framework aims to bridge the gap between academia and the dairy sector.

The Dairy Roadmap

The Dairy Roadmap is one of the world’s most successful cross-industry dairy sustainability initiatives. Originally beginning its life as The Milk Roadmap, it has been setting sustainability targets and ambitions since 2008, driving positive environmental change across the dairy sector.

The Dairy Roadmap has made great progress since its inception in 2008 including:

• >20% increase in primary energy efficiency (kWh/tonne) by dairy processors.
• >20% improvement in water efficiency (m³/tonne) by processors.
• 30-day reduction in average age at first calving since 2018.

In July 2025 the Dairy Roadmap expanded its governance structure to include the industry’s customers, with a collective ambition to:

• Improve the environment footprint of the entire dairy supply chain.
• Strive for environmental best practice, innovation, and compliance.
• Maximise the social and economic benefits for the UK dairy sector from these improvements.
• Support both the global goal to limit temperature rise to 1.5°C, and the UK government’s commitment to Net-Zero.

Sustainable Dairy Pathways Project

As with any strategy, the Dairy Roadmap regularly reviews progress and re-focuses ambition.

UK dairy is on a sustainability journey and alongside gains to efficiency and profitability, there will be costs. The Sustainable Dairy Pathways initiative is a collaboration across the full value chain to highlight the route to a more sustainable dairy sector, whilst considering the innovation and financial support needed to achieve this ambition.

Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) has been commissioned to author a report that will be released in two phases over the next 12 months. The aim of the Pathways Report is to provide industry-aligned guidelines on legal and corporate sustainability targets, whilst ensuring farmers and processors have the flexibility to select the methods that best suit their operations. The report will provide a trusted, third party authored resource to underpin discussions on sustainability and finance, informing future Dairy Roadmap targets for the sector.

The International Dairy Federation

The International Dairy Federation (IDF) is a global, non-profit organisation that represents the dairy sector worldwide. It brings together a network of more than 1,200 dairy experts to develop and share scientific and technical knowledge, best practice and guidelines.

The IDF serves as the global voice and knowledge hub for the dairy sector, helping translate science into practical guidance and international standards such as the IDF global carbon footprint standard for the dairy sector.

The Dairy Roadmap has been working with UK carbon footprint tool providers to ensure they are compliant with the global standard methodology. This will enable data to be collated between tools, estimating and tracking the emissions intensity of UK milk. Data provides an evidence base for proactive policy and advocacy.

The Dairy Sustainability Framework

The Dairy Sustainability Framework (DSF) is a global, voluntary framework that helps the dairy sector measure, improve, and communicate sustainability performance in a consistent and science-based way.

The DSF provides a common structure and shared language for sustainability across the global dairy value chain. It represents more than 52% of the global formal milk market, with membership including more than 600,000 farms and 4,000 processing plants.

The Dairy Roadmap provides aggregated UK data into the DSF. They then use the framework’s common metrics, data, and global alignment to:

• Explain how dairy contributes to nutrition, livelihoods, and rural economies.
• Demonstrate measured progress on environmental and social sustainability.
• Support balanced, practical policies grounded in real farm systems.
• DSF advocacy uses shared data, science, and alignment to ensure dairy has a credible, constructive voice in global sustainability and food-system policy debates.

Benefits of Collaboration

Collaboration is important to drive change because most meaningful change is too complex for any one person, group, or organization to achieve alone. Working together multiplies impact in several ways:

Combines diverse perspectives and skills

Different people bring different experiences, expertise, and viewpoints. Collaboration helps uncover blind spots, generate better ideas, and design solutions that work for more people.

Builds shared ownership and commitment

When people are involved in shaping change, they’re more likely to support it and sustain it. Collaboration turns change from “something imposed” into “something we created together.”

Increases legitimacy and trust

Change efforts are more credible when multiple stakeholders are involved. Collaboration, and particularly shared data, signals transparency and fairness, which builds trust and reduces resistance.

Mobilises resources and influence

Partners can share knowledge, networks, funding, and authority. This collective power helps overcome barriers that would stop isolated efforts.

Enables learning and adaptation

Collaboration allows continuous feedback and learning. Groups can adjust strategies faster, respond to challenges, and innovate as conditions change.

Addresses complex, systemic problems

Issues like social inequality, climate change and nature loss are interconnected. Collaboration helps align actions across systems instead of treating symptoms in isolation.

In short, collaboration turns individual effort into collective momentum, making change more effective, inclusive, and sustainable.

Final Thoughts

Science has an essential role in the future of dairy farming but only delivers value when it changes decisions on farm. The future of dairy will not be decided in research papers alone. It will be built in fields, parlours and farm offices, through practical decisions that balance productivity, profitability and sustainability.