Each in their own place - Why the sustainability of livestock farming depends on well-defined roles in the dairy chain.

This article was published in the "Integral Sustainability" column of Issue 206 of Leite Integral Magazine - click to access the full issue.

Sustainability in dairy farming has been progressing, but the challenge goes far beyond the technical aspects. The central issue is the ability to coordinate between the different links in the production chain.

As in other editions of the Integral Sustainability column, we start with a simple musical reference to open this discussion. Generally, these choices involve more traditional Brazilian songs, but in this edition, the inspiration comes from a different path. The "Square Dance," popularized as a viral video, stems from a simple idea: for the dance to work, everyone needs to be in their square, in the right rhythm, occupying their space. When this happens, the movement flows; otherwise, harmony is lost and gives way to disorganization.

In dairy farming, sustainability reflects this same logic, not due to a lack of effort or knowledge, but due to a growing difficulty in coordination. The topic, previously treated as a trend, is now a prerequisite for competitiveness, market access, and remaining in the sector. In recent years, leaders in the dairy supply chain have incorporated concepts, developed tools, and broadened their dialogue with increasingly demanding global agendas.

This apparent evolution has, on the other hand, revealed a structural misalignment. Producers have been required to implement practices and provide data, often without clarity regarding the purpose of these actions. Industries are directed to make climate commitments, but without first structuring the means to consolidate consistent practices throughout the production chain. Technicians act as key agents in this transition, but, in many cases, without a unified logic of practices, indicators, and objectives to be worked on. The market, in turn, intensifies demands for sustainability, traceability, and proof, but still prioritizes isolated evidence over the shared construction of processes, which hinders the translation of these demands into practice.

In other words, there is progress, but there is still no convergence. Sustainability evolves on multiple fronts, not always in an integrated way, which results in the loss of a significant part of the transformative potential.

From urgency to technique

The first step in the sector's evolution towards sustainability was recognizing the urgency of the issue and bringing it to the forefront of discussion. Subsequently, this movement began to incorporate a technical approach, focusing on productive efficiency, emissions reduction, waste management, nutrition, and herd structure.

The incorporation of methodologies such as Life Cycle Assessment was a watershed moment, quantifying and enabling an understanding of the main sources of greenhouse gas emissions from production. This approach makes the analysis structured and comparable, raising the level of maturity of the sector.

This is leading to a growing understanding that most emissions associated with dairy products are concentrated in primary production, i.e., within the farm gate. At the same time, there is a growing perception that carbon footprint alone is not sufficient to validate a product in the face of the demands placed on sustainability and its social, environmental, and economic aspects. Therefore, it becomes necessary to incorporate other dimensions, such as the use of natural resources, animal and human welfare, biodiversity, product safety and quality, soil structure and health, efficient water use, economic performance, and market development.

The turning point: the challenge is no longer just technical.

Alongside technical advancements, the sector is expanding its connection to the global agenda. Countries and companies have made commitments regarding greenhouse gas emissions, which, to be demonstrated, depend on data collected and analyzed based on internationally recognized methodologies aligned with the guidelines of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and climate transparency mechanisms.

Instruments such as the National Emissions Inventory gain relevance by organizing data, guiding public policies, and reinforcing the need for consistent information for decision-making. The inventory itself shows that climate management depends on structured, comparable, and integrated data throughout the supply chain.

These advances help to better structure the topic and make it clear that the sector's challenge is no longer just knowing what to do, but how to execute it in a coordinated way throughout the chain. Thus, the limitation of dairy farming, which was previously characterized by a lack of dissemination of the technique, now also lies in the absence of coordination between the different agents regarding objectives and methods.

Countries and companies have made commitments regarding greenhouse gas emissions, which, to be demonstrated, depend on data collected and analyzed based on internationally recognized methodologies and aligned with the guidelines of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and climate transparency mechanisms.

Facing the coordination problem

Sustainability cannot be achieved by a single link in the chain. Even though primary production accounts for the largest share of emissions and operational decisions, the ability to transform results into value depends on the collaboration between all those involved.

This coordination problem has been addressed by global initiatives such as the Dairy Sustainability Framework (DSF), which works to build guidelines for the sector, and the Sustainable Dairy Partnership (SDP - SAI Platform), which leads the structuring of commercial relationships between milk buyers and processors. Initiatives like these contribute to aligning producers, industries, and other stakeholders around common criteria, promoting comparability, transparency, and governance throughout the production system.

This approach connects directly to the concept of the value chain, where the performance of each link influences the overall result. Environmental, social, and economic indicators continuously influence each other: a decision made on the farm impacts the industry, which, in turn, impacts the market, and this feedback again influences production. Ignoring this dynamic is to treat sustainability in a fragmented way, when, in practice, it is an integrated attribute. Figure 1 illustrates the transition from this fragmented approach to a coordinated, data-driven logic.

Figure 1. Sustainability in dairy farming: from fragmentation to data-driven coordination.

Uncertainty leads to loss of efficiency.

When there is no clarity about the role of each link, the tendency is for responsibility to be concentrated disproportionately, generating overload in some areas and gaps in others.

The producer ends up being charged for indicators that they don't fully control. In practice, this translates into a familiar scenario in the field: spreadsheets filled out, data collected, and information sent, without any clear return, either in the form of remuneration or consistent technical guidance. The industry makes commitments that depend on variables outside its direct control. Technicians operate without a standardized basis that allows for consistent comparison and improvement. The market signals preferences, but doesn't always create clear mechanisms to value these practices.

Moving forward without coordination tends to generate increased costs without proportional return, duplication of efforts, inconsistency in data generation, and difficulty in proving results. It can also increase the exclusion of producers due to lack of access to tools, knowledge, or technical support to keep up with this evolution. Ultimately, both the efficiency of the transition and its credibility are compromised.

Data: the invisible link to coordination

For sustainability to be a collective endeavor, information must also be. It is necessary to consolidate, standardize, and interpret data in a way that allows for integrated analysis. The difference between information and intelligence lies in the connection offered by platforms that integrate data and present it to the various stakeholders in the sector, as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2. Integrated visualization of sustainability indicators in the milk supply chain (PEC Map, illustrative data)

Transforming data generated on the farm, often seen as isolated records, into a basis for comparative analysis and for guiding decisions is what enables coordinated action in the sector.

The quality of the results depends directly on the consistency of the data collected, the methodologies used, and the adequacy of the emission factors, in the case of the carbon footprint. Without standardization and governance, comparability is lost and, with it, the ability to transform information into strategy. Therefore, the discussion about data is strategic on the ESG agenda.

By consolidating indicators from different properties, regions, and production systems, ESG intelligence solutions, such as PEC Map, developed by ESGpec, structure an integrated vision, connecting the reality of the field to the demands of the industry and the requirements of the market. This integration takes sustainability from a simple diagnosis to the management level.

The next level of sustainability in milk.

Evolution involves connecting existing isolated practices to a sustainability management system, which requires organization, clarity of roles, aligned criteria, consistent metrics, and coordination capacity, and above all, that each link understands its role and acts in an integrated way with the others.

In practice, this translates to recognizing that each participant occupies a "square" in this logic. The producer, for example, tends to concentrate decisions related to animal welfare, herd efficiency, and consistency in data generation on the farm. The industry, in turn, has expanded its role by directing the whole, establishing criteria, creating incentives, and consolidating information to meet market demands. The technician acts as an implementation link, connecting indicators to the reality of the field and supporting the transformation of data into management decisions and economic results.

This arrangement also depends on a broader environment, in which public policies, sectoral guidelines, and support instruments contribute to guiding practices, reducing asymmetries, and enabling the adoption of solutions in the field.

More than a rigid definition of functions, it is a construction in which clarity of roles favors the evolution of sustainability in dairy farming. The challenge is not to do more, but to do better, in an aligned and progressively integrated way.

Condition for advancing

The metaphor that everyone should be in their own square is a practical condition for the sector's progress. It's not about limiting roles, but about defining responsibilities and ensuring clear and aligned execution. Co-creation, with everyone in their own square, allows the path to sustainability to consolidate as a collective and measurable result. It is at this point that dairy farming stops reacting to the global agenda and begins to actively participate in its construction.

An agenda under construction.

Throughout the twelve columns of the Integral Sustainability series, we sought to follow the evolution of the ESG agenda in dairy farming. Along this path, the choice of a song as a starting point became a recurring feature of the column. More than an aesthetic choice, it is a way to organize thought, give unity to complex themes, and bring together different dimensions of sustainability in a single narrative.

These 12 articles form a journey that helps us understand how we got here: from the recognition that change was already underway, in " The Wind of Change ," through the applied solutions discussed in " Modern Times ," to the construction of a vision for the future in " Beyond the Horizon ."

In subsequent editions, the column explored how this agenda materializes in everyday life, in " Simple Way" and " From January to January ," moving on to often invisible factors such as animal behavior and welfare, discussed in " Nothing is by Chance" and " New Time ," placing social sustainability at the center of attention.

Global pressure also came into play, with reflections on COP30 in " Time Doesn't Stop" and " We'll Need Everyone ," indicating that the next decade will be marked by real implementation.

More recently, structuring themes such as the role of people in " Quem sabe faz a hora" (Those who know how to do it , make it happen) and the climate governance of the supply chain in " O que é, o que é?" (What is it, what is it?) reinforce that sustainability is no longer a side agenda, but a central part of the sector's competitiveness.

Revisiting this path is also a way of understanding that the transformation of livestock farming does not occur in a single movement, but in the continuous construction of more conscious and connected decisions.

Authors

Bruna Silper - Veterinarian, specialist in precision livestock farming and sustainable solutions, PhD in Animal Science and dairy farmer in Minas Gerais, CEO of ESGpec.

Heloise Duarte - Veterinarian, specialist in Agroindustrial Management and beef producer in MG, COO of ESGpec.

Luiz Gustavo Pereira – Veterinarian, professor and researcher, PhD in Animal Science, specialist in nutrition and regenerative systems.

The "Integral Sustainability" column is a column published by ESGpec in Leite Integral magazine , which has established itself as a space for dialogue between science, innovation, and practice in the field. Each article invites reflection on the future of dairy farming and on how we can balance productivity, animal welfare, and environmental responsibility.

Check out all the columns published in the magazine:

2 The winds of change — a call to recognize that the time for sustainability has arrived and that agriculture needs to act now.

2 Modern times — practical and technological solutions to reduce methane emissions in livestock farming.

2 Beyond the horizon — a vision of how innovation and regeneration open new paths for the milk of the future.

2 A simple way — how each producer's choice can transform livestock farming, making ESG something accessible and real in the field.

2 Nothing is by chance — animal behavior and welfare: The science applied to sustainable dairy production.

2 COP30: Time doesn't stop — What is the role of livestock farming on a planet under pressure?

2 COP30: We'll need everyone — What the world's largest climate conference revealed for Brazilian milk and why the next decade demands data, transparency, and real implementation in the field.

1 FROM JANUARY TO JANUARY: Sustainability starts with the basics — This article shows how consistent decisions, from the herd to the soil, reduce emissions and increase efficiency in milk production.

2 "Those Who Know How, Make the Time" - The International Year of Women in Agriculture and ESG Beyond Carbon — This article discusses why the future of dairy farming depends not only on environmental metrics, and why ESG needs to go beyond carbon to generate real resilience.

2 NEW ERA - Animal welfare on the global milk sustainability agenda — This article discusses why animal welfare has ceased to be peripheral and has become an integral part of milk sustainability.

2 WHAT IS IT? Learn what Scope 3 is and what it demands of milk production — Scope 3 and the strategic repositioning of the milk supply chain — Climate governance of the supply chain begins on the farm and defines competitiveness, risk, and market access.

2. Each in their own place - Why the sustainability of livestock farming depends on well-defined roles in the dairy chain — Sustainability in dairy farming has been progressing, but the challenge goes far beyond the technical scope.

🌿 This column is the result of a partnership between ESGpec and Revista Leite Integral , and reinforces our commitment to making sustainability a practical, measurable, and inspiring topic.