As the global population approaches 10 billion by 2050, the imperative to feed people nutritiously while safeguarding the planet is intensifying. Food systems account for roughly 1/3 of human-induced greenhouse gas emissions, and food loss and waste contribute about 8–10 percent. Yet farmers often lack predictable incentives and finance to implement proven mitigation measures at scale. Data gaps further limit benchmarking and reward for performance. The challenge is to create a fair, scalable, and data-driven mechanism that motivates farmers to adopt the most impactful practices while protecting livelihoods and food security.

Arla is committed to a 1.5°C-aligned future. Our targets include a 63% cut in Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030 (validated by the Science Based Targets initiative) and a 30% reduction in Scope 3 intensity by 2030, supported by concrete action on farms and across our value chain.

Arla Foods has launched FarmAhead Technology to convert science and farm data into continuous climate action and farmer income. The approach rests on three pillars:

FarmAhead Check: Since 2020, Arla has collected emissions data from their 8,000 farmer owners via a comprehensive check of 220+ questions, creating one of the world’s largest sets of externally verified data on dairy farming. With an average farm footprint of 1.06 kg CO2e per kg milk, the dataset provides farm-specific insights and benchmarking, helping farmers prioritize actions with the greatest impact.

FarmAhead Incentive: A points-based payment model rewards efficiency and sustainability actions across high-impact levers – including the “Big 5”: feed efficiency, protein efficiency, cow mortality, fertilizer use, and land use – and other measures like manure handling, low-emission spreading, renewable electricity, and responsible soy. Average farmer engagement already exceeds 50 out of 80 potential points, and monthly payouts are tied to verified improvements, turning climate progress into predictable cash flow that supports upgrades and long-term behavior change.

FarmAhead Customer Partnership: Arla works with retailers and foodservice partners, so verified on-farm improvements are quantified to ESG grade and provided to customers for Scope 3 emissions reporting and substantiated claims. Following strong UK uptake (Aldi, Asda, Morrisons; 1+ billion kg), the program now covers Arla’s entire 200 million kg fresh milk pool in Danish retail and foodservice. This cross–value chain model standardizes data, aligns incentives to the highest-impact actions and links farmer action to market demand – turning climate performance into monthly income while protecting milk quality and supply.

Arla’s FarmAhead model is delivering measurable results: average farm emissions intensity fell from 1.12 to 1.06 kg CO2e per kg milk from 2022–2024 – well below the global average of ~2.5 kg CO2e/kg milk (FAO).

FarmAhead Check covers 99% of our milk with externally validated farm data, while FarmAhead Incentive paid EUR 337m in 2024 (up to EUR 500m/year available), turning verified actions into monthly income.

~4 billion kg of milk is now in FarmAhead Customer Partnerships, including Denmark’s 200 million kg pool, providing ESG-grade data that enables customers’ Scope 3 reporting and substantiated claims, while channeling co-funding to accelerate on-farm investments.