News

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the availability of a historic $1.5 billion through the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s (NRCS) Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP). Through either an RCPP Classic or RCPP Alternative Funding Arrangements (AFA), these funds will be used to help farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners adopt and expand conservation practices and strategies to enhance natural resources while addressing the climate crisis.

Researchers at Cornell University are working to collect real farm data to quantify dairy’s environmental footprint as part of the Nutrient Management Spear Program’s Dairy Sustainability Project. Tools like the Whole Farm Nutrient Mass Balance, developed by Cornell, measures the balance between nutrient inputs and outputs on a whole farm basis. Another popular tool amongst researchers, Cool Farm Tool, estimates total farm greenhouse gas emissions as well as emissions produced from milk production.

As part of the Greener Cattle Initiative, UW-Madison assistant professor of animal and dairy sciences, Francisco Peñagaricano, was awarded a $3.3 million grant in support of research aiming to reduce enteric methane emissions from cattle. Peñagaricano’s research consists of three elements: selectively breeding dairy cattle that produce lower methane emissions, developing a milk-based test to predict a cow’s methane emissions, and studying the rumen microbiome.

A recent study published in the Journal of Dairy Science aligns the foundation of dairy’s environmental success found in the 2020 Capper and Cady study. Due to increased efficiencies over the past 50 years, the U.S. dairy industry is able to producer more milk with fewer cows, and in turn fewer emissions per unit of milk. This additional research provides valuable credibility to back the dairy industry’s sustainability story.

The dairy industry is continuously adapting and evolving, especially in the face of climate change. Through collaborative efforts between farmers, cooperatives, researchers, and other dairy industry stakeholders, dairy farmers are working to reduce their environmental impact, improve their soil health, and further implement regenerative agriculture practices.

American Dairy Association North East (ADA North East) is partnering with environmental groups across its six-state region to build relationships and trust in the dairy industry. Collaboration with environmental groups gives the dairy industry the opportunity to share how dairy farmers care for their land, air, water, and communities.

The Greener Cattle Initiative, created by the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR) and the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy, is an international consortium studying various technologies to mitigate enteric methane emissions. Opening its second request for research proposals, the Greener Cattle Initiative is offering a maximum request of up to $5 million for proposed projects surrounding scalable technologies that reduce enteric methane emissions and benefit farmers, consumers, and the environment.

The Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy has released its ninth U.S. Dairy Sustainability Report, addressing the progress, strategy, and partnerships achieved across three pillars; Advance Well-being, Regenerate the Environment, and Care for Animals and Communities. This report showcases elements of the three pillars such as U.S. dairy’s 2050 environmental goals, the U.S. Dairy Stewardship Commitment, the U.S. Dairy Net Zero Initiative (NZI), and the National Dairy Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) Program.

Dr. Alex Hristov’s research group at the Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences found that the use of botanical extracts, such as chili pepper (capsicum oleoresin) and clove oil, have the ability to reduce both the yield and intensity of enteric methane. The study showed a combined supplementation of capsicum oleoresin and clove oil resulted in a more efficient feed energy use, resulting in an enteric methane reduction of 11%.

Livestock supply chains produce greenhouse gases (GHGs) in various ways, namely through digestive processes, manure management, feed production, and energy consumption. Athian, the world’s first voluntary livestock carbon insetting marketplace, verifies, certifies, and sells carbon credits within the dairy value chain. Incentivizing farmers for their GHG reductions transforms the food chain, advancing Scope 3 emission reduction goals.