In an ongoing effort to enhance the environment and protect natural resources, the Dairy Business Association is proud to report significant accomplishments with the DBA-Green Tier Advancement Project (DBA-GTAP) Charter.
Since the signing of the charter by DBA and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) in December 2008, Wisconsin dairy producers are working toward achieving superior environmental performance through the development and implementation of Environmental Management Systems (EMS).
The monumental DBA-GTAP Charter encourages and supports the use of EMS. The purpose of the EMS is to establish a set of processes or practices that will enable dairy producers to reduce their environmental impact while increasing their operating efficiency.
“We are very pleased with the collective progress DBA and DNR have made on this revolutionary initiative that adds value to producers’ efforts to better the environment. We look forward to enrolling more dairies in the program and developing additional strategies for them to be even more environmentally sound and sustainable while improving their business models,” said DBA’s Executive Director Laurie Fischer.
The Charter provides a practical and business-like cooperative initiative that encourages and supports the development of EMS tailored to account for regional and site specific issues for the management of process wastewaters and by-products, manure, storm water, feed, agricultural chemicals and fuel. It also provides opportunities for producers to research and develop agricultural practices in the pursuit of environmental protection, enhancement and conservation.
In order to effectively serve dairy producers, DBA-GTAP continues to expand its resources. An outreach strategy has been implemented to inform DBA members and all other Wisconsin dairy producers and processors on the project. Also, EMS training curriculum has been developed, and an EMS information clearing house is underway. To encourage participation, funding sources have been secured to offset a portion of the cost to producers.