Farmer Focus: “Climate-Smart” farming is efficient farming, Medeiros says

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Source: National Milk Producers Federation

“Climate-smart” is becoming an agriculture buzzword. USDA last week unveiled $1 billion in pilot projects for lower-carbon farming practices. And just days earlier in Congress, a House Agriculture subcommittee heard testimony from livestock producers on how they’re working toward sustainability solutions. Melvin Medeiros — a Laton, CA dairy farmer, member of NMPF’s Executive Committee and Chairman of Dairy Farmers of America (DFA)’s Western Area Council — represented dairy producers.

Medeiros, who is profiled in the latest Farmer Focus from NMPF and the National Dairy Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) Program, takes a wide range of approaches to sustainability. Tweaks to farming practices, new technologies, effective use of data-driven management – all add up to a bright future for climate-smart dairies, said Medeiros.

“Trying to envision what a dairy farm could look like in 2050, and where technology is going today, and the speed it’s going at — every tractor on the farm, every piece of machinery could be run by electricity. We’ll be supplying that energy either through solar, or methane, and dairy farms could be a net exporter of energy. That’s where I see it going, and that’s a positive thing.”

For more of the Medeiros story and profiles of innovative dairy-farm families, visit NMPF’s Sharing Our Story page.