Farmers, Scientists Partner to Support Biodiversity on New York Dairy Farms

The push for sustainability metrics for the dairy industry is ever growing. This includes metrics for air and water quality, water use, and most recently above-ground biodiversity. We sat down with members of the Nutrient Management Spear Program (NMSP) to learn about measuring on-farm, above-ground biodiversity in upstate New York.

New York dairy farms are complex and cyclical. Dairy farmers in upstate New York focus not only on their cattle, but also on growing a large portion of their cattle feed on their own land. In addition, most farms have acres that are not in production, providing valuable ecosystem services while offsetting greenhouse gas emissions. 

Some farms in upstate New York have up to 200-300 acres of land that is not in use for forage and feed production, from vast spans of forest that house natural ecosystems, to native grasslands that support pollinators which promote prosperous crop production. Biodiversity influences nutrient cycling, genetic diversity and pollination, uniquely supporting the resilience of our farms. Protecting these non-production areas is of tremendous value for dairy sustainability.

While the positives of biodiversity are well known, how to measure on-farm biodiversity is less well known. The NMSP team decided to dig deeper into the matter.

“It started out as a side project in 2023, it was something we decided to look into since a lot of people in the dairy industry were asking about it,” said Karolyn Auer, dairy sustainability research assistant. “We quickly realized that a lot of the work that we do ties in more closely with biodiversity than we had initially thought.” 

Under the supervision of Olivia Godber, NMSP research associate and dairy sustainability lead, and Quirine Ketterings, professor of whole-farm nutrient management and NMSP’s lead, Auer has been working hard to examine how biodiversity metrics could be added to already ongoing assessments of greenhouse gas emissions and nutrient balances.  

“Many of the variables that we look at when we’re assessing greenhouse gas emissions and nutrient mass balances also play a role in maintaining and preserving above-ground, on-farm biodiversity,” said Auer. “For example, we consider the impacts of animal density, manure application and inorganic fertilizer application on nutrient use, greenhouse gas emissions and biodiversity.”