The Sustainability Index report: you may be eligible for a financial incentive from FCC and Starbucks Canada
- 5 juin 2023
For the second year in a row, Lactanet, Dairy Farmers of Canada and FCC are offering a financial incentive program for herds performing well on Lactanet’s Sustainability Index. This year, the program is enhanced by an additional incentive from Starbucks Canada.
Lactanet’s Sustainability Index report is a management tool for assessing the sustainability of dairy herds according to 10 management criteria. The Sustainability Index is calculated three times a year, in the months corresponding to Canadian Genetic Evaluations: April, August and December.
To be eligible for FCC credit, the dairy farm must meet the following criteria:
- A score of 50% or higher on the proAction Environmental Questionnaire.
- A herd Sustainability Index* of 50 or more
- A passing grade on at least 6 of the 10 indicators* in the latest Herd Sustainability Index report.
*Producers who do not have access to the Sustainability Index report may qualify for credit by submitting similar indicators.
Details and an online application form are available at the following web link:
Dairy Farmers of Canada, Lactanet and Starbucks Canada | FCC (fcc-fac.ca)
The Starbucks Canada incentive offers additional credit in the “Best Performing Producer” and “Most Improved Producer” categories.
Easily find your herd's Sustainability Index report
As of this August, 2024, a new Sustainability Index report has been added to the list of Lactanet reports on MySite. Some herds may not have reports generated if they don’t provide sufficient data to milk recording: it requires at least 6 tests with components in the past 12 months, sufficient calving data (calving ease, calf size and stillbirth rate), culling reasons, mortalities, etc.
To find it, access your customer account and enter the keyword Sustainability in the search tool:
The Sustainability Index report is an interactive report that requires the installation and use of the Cognos application to view it. To see how to download the application and view your report, you can watch our instructional video by clicking here.
How to interpret the Sustainability Index report?
The Sustainability Index report provides a quick visualization of the indicators that reflect sustainable herd management practices. National percentile rankings indicate which criteria are performing well, and which can be improved. Results in the green zone of the scale are superior (percentile rank 75 and above), those in the yellow zone are average (percentile rank 25 to 74) and those in the red zone have strong potential for improvement (percentile rank below 25).
Let’s look at the interpretation of the report according to the examples of Herd A and Herd B.
Herd A achieves a high sustainability index (a national percentile rank of 95), indicated by the blue line in the green zone. It has slightly improved from the previous assessment (percentile rank 89), indicated by the black line.
The overview of the Index’s 10 criteria suggests excellent management of this herd in terms of health. Calf mortality rate offers some potential for improvement, though not at an alarming level, with percentile ranks around 50.
Herd Sustainability Index Report for Herd A:
For Herd B, they show a clearly improved Sustainability Index: the blue line places the herd at a national percentile rank of 93, and the black line indicates their rank at the previous evaluation (percentile rank of 75). Clicking on the history button brings up the graph of previous results showing clear improvements in the last years.
In terms of the 10 criteria, the reduction in percentage of cows with SCC greater 200 000 cells/ml and the involuntary culling rate show the most potential for improvement.
Herd B could be a candidate for the Starbucks incentive if the improvement trend continues upwards during reports generated in August 2024 and December 2024.
The practices you put in place to improve your herd’s sustainability offer a new opportunity for a return on your investment. In addition to the increased-on farm profitability of sustainable practices, FCC now offers financial incentives based on defined criteria.
Consult your Lactanet representative to help you achieve your herd sustainability objectives, and learn more about the Sustainability Index here, and the joint DFC, Lactanet, FCC and Starbucks incentive program here.
