Your field rep raises Fonterra's climate target: the co-op wants its on-farm emissions down per tonne of milk, and asks where your farm sits. Two questions follow: what is Fonterra actually asking, and what do you need to do about it?
About this guide
CO2 Lab is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or partnered with Fonterra. This guide explains their publicly stated on-farm emissions target, as at October 2026, to help suppliers respond, and is based on the sources linked below. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
What Fonterra is asking
On-farm emissions are more than 90% of Fonterra's footprint, so its own operations are only a small part of the picture. Fonterra has an SBTi-aligned target to cut Scope 1 and 3 FLAG emissions from dairy by 30% per tonne of milk by FY30, from an FY18 baseline. FLAG stands for forest, land and agriculture, the biological emissions of farming. Because the target is measured per tonne of milk, it is about intensity: producing the same milk with fewer emissions. That depends on its farmer suppliers, which is why the data request lands with you.
The target at a glance
| Fonterra's on-farm target | Detail |
|---|---|
| Target | Cut Scope 1 and 3 FLAG emissions from dairy 30% per tonne of milk by FY30, from an FY18 baseline |
| Alignment | SBTi-aligned, under the FLAG method for the land sector |
| Where it sits | More than 90% of Fonterra's footprint is on-farm |
| Biggest lines | Enteric methane from the herd and nitrogen from fertiliser |
| What you provide | A per-farm footprint from herd, feed, fertiliser and energy records |
The biggest lines are biological
Unlike most supply chains, a dairy farm's largest emissions are not fuel or power. They are biological: enteric methane from the herd and nitrous oxide from nitrogen fertiliser and effluent. So the footprint a farm needs is built from herd numbers, feed, fertiliser use and effluent management first, then fuel and electricity. For a food or dairy processor further down the chain, it is energy and refrigeration. Either way it is the same discipline as any customer's data request: a number with the method behind it.
“The target is intensity, not a round total: the same milk with fewer emissions. A per-farm figure you can trace to its method is the one that survives into Fonterra's account.”
Why the per-farm baseline mattersHow to respond
A first response to Fonterra
- Build a per-farm footprint from herd, feed, fertiliser, fuel and electricity records
- Account for the biological lines, enteric methane and nitrogen, not only energy
- Apply recognised agricultural factors, and show the method behind each figure
- Flag what is measured and what is estimated
- Keep the source records together, so the intensity figure is defensible
Turn the Fonterra target into a defensible per-farm baseline. What our AI Sustainability Analyst gives a supplier:
Give Fonterra a per-farm baseline that stands up
Our AI Sustainability Analyst builds an on-farm footprint from your own herd, feed, fertiliser and energy records, with the method and evidence behind every figure, ready to plan reductions from.
Book a Sustainability Check-up