FARM ES Results Explorer
Dairy farms vary widely in their size, location, and starting conditions—factors that all influence the feasibility and impact of management changes on their environmental footprint. This tool allows users to explore baseline greenhouse gas emissions from hypothetical farms across the country and assess how different interventions could affect those footprints.
Contents
Goal
Step One
Step Two
Development Notes
Getting Started
Welcome to the Dairy Footprint Explorer, an interactive tool designed to help users understand the capabilities of the FARM ES model and explore the environmental impact of dairy farming practices. Leveraging the latest version of FARM Environmental Stewardship (ES), powered by RuFaS, this resource allows you to:
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Select representative dairy farms from different regions across the U.S. and view their baseline greenhouse gas (GHG) footprints calculated with FARM ES.
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Explore detailed farm profiles including herd size, cropping systems, manure management methods, and more.
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Interactively evaluate how implementing various conservation practices affects each farm’s environmental footprint.
By integrating cutting-edge environmental stewardship assessments from FARM ES and RuFaS, the Explorer provides a clear, science-based pathway to visualize and understand how sustainability strategies deliver tangible, real-world benefits at the farm level.
Learn more about dairy environment models
Select Sample Farm
Below is a list of hypothetical dairy farms representing diverse regions and production systems across the country. Select a farm to view its base greenhouse gas (GHG) footprint for reference and comparison."
FARM DETAILS
Idaho Open Lot
ADDITIONAL FARM DETAILS MILK PRODUCTION ▶ Total Annual Milk Production: 23046100 lbs ▶ Milk Fat Content: 3.9% ▶Milk Protein Content: 3.2% HERD COMPOSITION ▶ On-site Postweaned Heifers: 700 ▶ On-site Preweaned Calves: 100 ▶ Adult Animals Sold (%): 37% ▶Adult Animals Dead (%): 5% ANIMAL RATIONS ▶ Lactating Cows (lb/animal/day): 20 lbs Corn Silage; 4 lbs Grass Hay; 7 lbs Corn Grain; 2 lbs Mineral Mix; 11 lbs Byproduct Mix; 7 lbs Alfalfa Hay ▶ Dry Cows (lb/animal/day): 12 lbs Corn Silage; 6 lbs Grass Hay; 1 lbs Corn Grain; 1 lbs Mineral Mix; 4 lbs Byproduct Mix; 6 lbs Alfalfa Hay ▶ Heifer Ration (lb/animal/day): 6 lbs Corn Silage; 3 lbs Grass Hay; 1 lbs Corn Grain; 1 lbs Mineral Mix; 2 lbs Byproduct Mix; 7 lbs Alfalfa Hay ▶ Calf Ration: 2.2 lbs whole milk; 2.2 lbs calf starter MANURE MANAGEMENT ▶ Lactating Animals, dry cows, and heifers are housed year-round in a free-stall barn with sand bedding. ▶ Manure is manually scraped and stored in a slurry for 180 days before being land-applied. ▶ Calves are housed in calf hutches
Location
Ithaca, NY
Farmed acreage
1000 Acres
Daily mIlk production (lbs)
98%
Housing
Open Lot
Total milking herd
800 acres
Ration
51 DMI (lbs/day)
45% Forages
Manure storage
Uncovered Anaerobic Lagoon
FARM ES BASE GHG FOOTPRINT:
1.219 lb CO2e / lb FPCM
⤓ Download base evaluation
Explore Impact of Different Practices on Farm GHG Footprint
Below is a list of conservation practices with farm es scenrios. recommended for the farm described above. Click on each practice to view its expected impact on the farm’s environmental footprint. Example FARM ES seeneiros and how the users can input and custom .
Idaho Open Lot
Feed Additive: Monensin
IMPLEMENTATION SPECIFICS ▶ Fed to lactating cows only at recommended rates
Emission Source
FARM ES Base
lb CO2e / lb FPCM
FARM ES Scenario
lb CO2e / lb FPCM
Difference from Baseline
% Difference
Feed Production
0.287
0.288
0.001%
On-Site Manure
0.398
0.398
0.000%
On-Site Energy
0.042
0.042
0.000%
On-Site Enteric
0.486
0.471
-0.015%
Total
1.213
1.199
-0.014 %
Other Impacts
Other Impact Text
Development Notes
The Dairy Footprint Explorer is built to help users intuitively understand the impact of conservation practices on dairy farms’ environmental footprints. Below are key implementation notes:
Farm Data Sources:
Baseline footprint data and farm characteristics (e.g., herd size, manure management, cropping system, milk yield) are sourced from ____ [insert data source or methodology used].
Practice Impact Calculations:
Impact estimates for conservation practices are calculated using FARM ES V3 powered by RuFaS.