New Educational Videos Highlight Sustainability

A new set of educational videos aimed at clarifying the meaning of sustainability in agriculture is the result of a collaboration between the UC Davis CLEAR Center, DairyKind, and Alltech. The project focuses on helping producers and employees better understand how sustainability applies to the everyday work on dairy and beef operations.

The videos, produced in both English and Spanish, were created to make sustainability concepts more accessible to a broader audience, particularly the on-farm workforce. While sustainability is widely discussed across the livestock sector, the term is often interpreted differently depending on the audience. The goal of the videos was to provide a clear, science-based explanation that connects broader sustainability goals to the daily responsibilities of people working with cattle.

Narrated by the Joe Proudman, Deputy Director of the CLEAR Center, the videos emphasize that sustainability is not just a high-level industry goal, but something carried out every day by the people who care for animals, manage resources, and keep farms and ranches operating.

“Sometimes we think of sustainability as a concept, but really it’s something that happens every day on farms and ranches,” Proudman said. “The goal of these videos is to help the people doing the work see how the decisions they make every day as part of their jobs, are part of a much bigger sustainability picture.”

One of the key messages in the videos is that sustainability includes environmental, economic, and social responsibility — and that the people working on farms and ranches are a critical part of that equation. The videos highlight the vital role workers play in keeping agriculture sustainable through practices such as:

• Manure Management: Many farms utilize anaerobic digesters to convert manure into renewable energy, such as biogas, which powers farms and local communities.
• Water Management: Farms recycle and reuse water multiple times.
• Technological Innovations: Real-time animal monitoring helps both resource efficiency and animal welfare.
• Animal Nutrition: Animal nutritionists carefully formulate livestock rations to boost health and productivity, often incorporating agricultural byproducts like almond hulls and distillers' grains. This reduces waste, lowers landfill impact, and helps minimize greenhouse gas emissions, especially methane.

“The people who care for animals on farms and ranches every single day are at the heart of sustainability. When we invest in them and educate and empower them, we strengthen our farms and ranches not just for today, but for future generations,” said CLEAR Center director Dr. Frank Mitloehner. “This video underscores the fact that sustainability isn’t just about numbers and requirements; it’s about the people doing the work and making responsible decisions every day that sustain agriculture for future generations.”

Producers of the videos designed them to be flexible educational tools. They can be used as part of employee training programs, incorporated into onboarding materials for new hires, or used as stand-alone resources for producers and industry professionals. 

The videos are available on the CLEAR Center’s YouTube channel and will also be incorporated into DairyKind’s training platform and Alltech’s On-Farm Support training programs, allowing the materials to be used by operations across the country.