The KlimaStaR Milk resource project, a cross-industry initiative launched in 2022 by Emmi, Nestlé, aaremilch, ZMP and AgroCleanTech with support from the Swiss Federal Office for Agriculture, has reported significant progress after four years. The project aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and competition for feed-food and land by 20% each by 2027. At the end of 2025, 219 dairy farms producing around 73 million kilograms of milk annually were participating.
According to the project’s fourth-year results, feed-food competition—the use of animal feed that could otherwise serve human nutrition—has fallen by around 23% since the start, surpassing the original 20% target. Competition for land has also declined by 15% below the baseline, meaning farms now produce more milk and animal protein on the same or only slightly larger area. Greenhouse gas emissions per kilogram of milk have been reduced by about 8% relative to the start. In 2025, farms lowered emissions by 66 grams of CO2 equivalents per kilogram of milk. While absolute emissions rose slightly due to higher overall production, they remained lower than they would have been without the measures. Extrapolated to the 73 million kilograms produced, this equates to a reduction of nearly 5,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent compared with the original production system.
Progress was particularly marked on farms in the valley zone. However, further reductions are challenging because they require high investments and long planning horizons. Additionally, Switzerland’s baseline greenhouse gas emissions were lower than initially assumed and below the international average, making additional cuts harder to achieve. In the remaining two years, farms will receive individual guidance and tailored advice, with those that have successfully lowered emissions sharing their experiences.
The positive results have encouraged the dairy industry to expand its commitment beyond the project farms. Based on the findings, the industry organisation Milch (BOM) developed a climate calculator that has been available to all Swiss milk producers since July 2026. This tool allows farms to calculate their greenhouse gas emissions and feed-food competition, and to identify optimisation measures. By applying the methods developed in the project, the dairy industry is laying the foundation for rolling out the progress nationwide, contributing to the Swiss Federal Council’s objectives for agriculture up to 2050, which include more climate-friendly production and increased use of grass and by-products from food production.
Further details are available in the Media release as PDF and on the KlimaStaR Milk website (in German). Additional materials, including images, video testimonials and animated infographics, can be found in the Various KlimaStaR Milk documents: images, video testimonials and animated infographics.
