Dairy Farmers of America – Bailie Shultz – 2025
Summary
Dairy Farmers of America (DFA), the largest dairy cooperative in the United States with approximately 5,000 farmer-owners, is experiencing growing engagement from consumers and the marketplace to advance sustainability efforts. These efforts include conserving water, improving water quality, and reducing on-farm emissions. To support these goals, DFA commissioned EDF Climate Corps fellow Bailie Shultz to conduct a water risk assessment of on-farm water use and to perform an exploratory analysis of the Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM) with the goal of creating access for DFA farmer-owners.
Goals
The goal of both projects is to align DFA with broader industry sustainability targets while creating meaningful impact for farmer-owners. The water risk assessment was designed to take a systems-level view of how DFA farms interact with water resources. By layering multiple data sources, to help identify where water-related risks and opportunities exist so future sustainability decisions can be informed by localized insights. The exploratory VCM project is focused on unlocking new revenue streams for farmer-owners through voluntary carbon credits. The VCM offers a way to financially encourage carbon-reducing practices on farm. These practices generate carbon credits that can be used by other industries to meet their climate goals, creating a win-win for farmers and the environment.
Solutions
The goal of both projects was to support DFA’s alignment with industry sustainability targets while creating actionable tools and insights for farmer-owners. For the water risk assessment, Bailie completed two deliverables: a written report and a Power BI tool. The report explored climate risk, resiliency, and over 25 water stewardship practices, supported by interviews with policy and finance professionals to understand how these sectors are responding to on-farm water risk. The Power BI tool integrated GIS data from the World Resources Institute Water Risk Atlas with DFA farm-level data, allowing the user to assess basin-level risk and view on-farm practices. For the VCM project, Bailie’s goal was to explore how DFA could strategically engage in this emerging space to benefit farmer-owners. Bailie conducted interviews with five carbon crediting companies to understand their models and how DFA farmer-owners might participate. Through this work, Bailie identified key opportunities for farmer-owners to access new revenue streams, especially when other sustainability funding is limited, and surfaced themes around how current market structures impact farmer participation and long-term viability.
Potential Impact
The Water Risk Assessment helped DFA understand and respond to water-related risks across its farmer-owner network. The report explores how water intersects with agriculture, policy, and finance, while the Power BI tool enables basin-level visualization and links risks to on-farm practices. Together, they support informed decisions, guide sustainability investments, and strengthen DFA’s water stewardship efforts. The Exploratory Voluntary Carbon Market project assessed how farmer-owners could engage with carbon markets. Through interviews and research, Bailie identified revenue opportunities tied to carbon-reducing practices and highlighted barriers to participation. These insights help DFA explore partnerships and evaluate how carbon markets can support environmental and economic goals.
