Dairy farmers have already come a long way in improving their environmental footprint, but consumers and customers are raising the bar.

One surprising aspect of the COVID-19 pandemic is that consumers and customers put greater emphasis on social responsibility and environmental stewardship, Barb O’Brien, president of Dairy Management Inc., said during a conference call with the media.

DMI followed consumer research through the pandemic, and it was clear consumers wanted more than just taste from their products, she said.

“They wanted their consumption to have a positive impact,” she said.

In the recent research, 50% of consumers said they became more aware of the environment during the pandemic and 58% believe society collectively needs to respond to climate change with the same urgency as it has to COVID-19, she said.

“We’re also seeing leading companies really step up and make aggressive commitments,” she said.

They’re going on record to fight hunger, to become carbon-neutral or carbon-negative and to become resource-positive with an aim of improving the quality of life now and in the future, she said.

Those companies include Nestle, General Mills, Kroger, Walmart Smithfield, Starbucks and many more, she said.

“We know that these companies ultimately will rely on their supply chain and on farmers to meet these social responsibility goals. And we’re seeing more and more companies and brands looking for ways to work with farmers to identify solutions, verses some of what we had seen previously in terms of top-down approaches and absolute demands,” she said.

On an even more positive note, companies are now putting money behind dairy farmers’ efforts as they recognize environmental progress needs to make economic sense, she said

The dairy industry came into 2020 ready to meet expectations. Early in the year, the board of directors for the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy unanimously approved an aspirational vision of dairy as an environmental solution, she said.

The board also approved a set of bold, voluntary goals to meet by 2050 for greenhouse gas emissions, water conservation, water quality and nutrient management, she said.

Another major effort is aimed at answering questions from farmers and others on how farmers and the rest of the industry are going to get there, she said.

Dairy organizations representing farmers, cooperatives and processors also unveiled a plan called the Net Zero Initiative, she said.

“It’s aimed at breaking down barriers to make new technologies and practices more accessible and more affordable to farms of all sizes,” she said.

Getting there has been an industrywide effort. But as organizers have shared the plan, others have endorsed the strategies and are now ready to co-invest in the work, she said.

Nestle and Starbucks have each made investments of up to $10 million over multiple years to support the Net Zero Initiative. The project has also received a $10 million grant over six years from the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research.

There is also a processor-based effort that runs on a parallel path with a focus on greenhouse gas emissions, packaging, waste and water, she said.

“This is so critical for farmers because ultimately … for us to be successful as a category, we have got to earn consumer trust,” she said.