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IDFA says voluntary emissions reporting still likely

An ag group says farms could still be subject to climate disclosures with private companies.

Matt Herrick with the International Dairy Foods Association tells Brownfield while the Securities and Exchange Commission has decided not to require Scope 3 emission reporting, it’s becoming more common in a global food supply chain.

“Outside of the regulatory space, these are things that insurance companies, banks and others are already looking at and doing,” he says. “But in the regulatory space, you know, a lot of this stuff emanates from California.”

Herrick says the dairy industry has been measuring its greenhouse gasses to create sustainability benchmarks for several years.

“And there are ways to model those emissions based on the number of cows you have, based on what you’re feeding those cows, based on whether or not they’re milking or not,” he explains. “We can model that that information and, in some cases, there are more food companies looking at that information or requiring it.”

He says advocacy by several food and ag groups helped the SEC change its strategy on emission regulations.

“They learned what we’re doing here,” he says. “They learned that we’re leaders in the world in conservation and sustainability work. And this scope 3 emissions requirement not only would be a huge burden, it just wasn’t necessary at this point in time.”

Herrick says he hopes lawmakers continue to support efforts like the USDA’s Climate-Smart Commodities program to provide voluntary incentives for the industry.

AUDIO: Matt Herrick, International Dairy Foods Association