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The Farmers Assuring Responsible Management Environmental Stewardship (FARM ES) greenhouse gas (GHG) estimation tool is widely used across the dairy industry. FARM ES utilizes data collected from the dairy farm to model emissions from four key areas of the farm; enteric, manure, feed, and energy use. Once a FARM ES assessment is completed, results are provided in terms of pounds of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) per pound of fat and protein corrected milk (FPCM).

The USDA recently announced the recipients of the 2023 Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) funding, aiming to incentivize greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions. Overall, of the 81 projects selected to receive RCPP funding, 10 of those projects have a dairy focus. Newtrient was selected to lead three RCPP grants, partnering with Michigan Milk Producers Association (MMPA), Foremost Farms USA, and Glanbia. In addition, Newtrient will be in a supporting role to a fourth RCPP, partnering with Tillamook. The USDA announcement enables Newtrient to leverage NRCS’s investment combined with dairy supply chain investment to incentivize adoption of conservation practices.

Athian recently announced its first accepted protocol focused on reducing enteric methane emissions and improving feed utilization through Elanco Animal Health’s feed management products. The approved protocol opens the door to the first carbon credit sale in the voluntary livestock carbon insetting marketplace, monetizing farmers’ greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions within the dairy value chain. Enteric methane reduction carbon credits are now available for sale through Athian’s insetting carbon marketplace.

In 2022, Osterhoudt Farms partnered with Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences’ (CALS) Nutrient Management Spear Program (NMSP) to conduct on-farm research as part of the U.S. Dairy Net Zero Initiative Dairy Soil and Water Regeneration (DSWR) project which focuses on building soil health to reduce greenhouse gases (GHG), improve water quality, and enable new economic benefits. The research at Osterhoudt Farms compares the soil health indicators, yield efficiency, and greenhouse gas emissions between “business-as-usual” field management practices and conservation practices such as reduced tillage, spring-applied composted dairy solids, and grain drilling.

Michigan State University’s animal science professor, Dr. Mike Vandehaar, is utilizing the newest technology at the university’s Dairy Cattle Teaching and Research Center to combat climate change. This technology analyzes the amount of methane produced as cows belch when they eat, also known as enteric methane. Aiming to discover how various types of cattle feed affect the amount of methane they produce, Vandehaar will use this technology in upcoming studies to analyze the reduction of methane from feed supplements.

Senior vice president and distinguished scientist at Dairy Management Inc. (DMI), Juan Tricarico, serves as the director of the Greener Cattle Initiative, a research group investing private and public dollars into studying the production and mitigation of enteric methane. Global demand for milk and meat products are projected to increase by 60% in the next decades, making it especially crucial to invest in solutions to reduce enteric methane emissions in the dairy and beef sectors. Research projects funded by the Greener Cattle Initiative are taking place across the country to mitigate enteric methane through genetics, feed additives, and other inhibitors.

An $80 million grant has been awarded to Virginia Tech to help farmers significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions through the voluntary implementation of climate-smart practices. In efforts to build and expand market opportunities for U.S. agriculture, the grant will provide its diversely selected participants with an incentive of $100 per acre or animal unit for the adoption of climate-smart practices. This payment outweighs the cost of implementation and provides more than that amount in environmental benefits to the public.

In 2020, the U.S. Dairy Net Zero Initiative set industry-wide goals to achieve greenhouse gas (GHG) neutrality, optimize water use while maximizing recycling, and improve water quality by optimizing manure and nutrient utilization. The U.S. dairy industry has published its progress in developing resources and knowledge to support farmers. This progress involves collaborative efforts with diverse partners, in both public and private sectors, engaging in numerous projects dedicated to researching, analyzing, and modeling innovative solutions, practices and technologies.

For fiscal year 2024, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the availability of over $3 billion of funding, as part of President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, for conservation assistance to agricultural producers and forest landowners. The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) will assist in the implementation of conservation practices through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase carbon sequestration, or provide benefits for other natural resources through soil health, water quality, air quality, and pollinator and wildlife habitats.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) recently published the report, “Methane emissions in livestock and rice systems. Sources, quantification, mitigation and metrics.” Focusing on the mitigation of methane, the report narrows in on the 32% of anthropogenic methane resulting from enteric fermentation of rumination and the 8% from rice paddies. This report provides an overview and analysis of methane emissions in livestock and rice systems, focusing on sources and sinks, methods of measurement, mitigation strategies, and evaluates the metrics that can be used to measure both emissions and effects of their mitigation.