CDFA’s Office of Agricultural Resilience and Sustainability (OARS) and California Dairy Research Foundation (CDRF) are pleased to announce the award of $26.8 million in federal grant funding through the Dairy Plus Program for 23 on-farm methane emission reduction and water quality improvement projects across California, directly supporting dairy farmers in their efforts to implement sustainable practices. As an important part of this state-federal partnership program, $7.8 million in Greenhouse Gas Reduction Funds (GGRF) is being leveraged through associated projects awarded by the Alternative Manure Management Program (AMMP) and the Dairy Digester Research and Development Program (DDRDP) to serve as matching funds for this federal investment.
“Supporting dairy and livestock producers in their drive to implement sustainable practices while continuing to provide nutritious, local food for California is more important now than ever,” said CDFA Secretary Karen Ross. “Dairy farmers and livestock ranchers are putting effective new technologies and best practices to work in their barns and fields, and these projects keep that progress in motion.”
This funding is part of a broader collaboration between CDFA, CDRF, and the USDA as part of the Advancing Markets for Producers initiative (formerly Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities program). The Dairy Plus Program focuses on larger-scale, more holistic projects that improve water quality, manage nitrogen and salt surplus, and reduce methane emissions through the use of innovative practices such as vermifiltration, advanced solid-liquid separation, and non-mechanical separation of manure solids from water.
By implementing advanced manure management practices, the awarded dairy farmers will improve their manure management practices and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by an estimated annual total of 124,541 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MTCO2e) annually, which is equivalent to removing over 29,050 cars from the road for a year. These projects also provide other important co-benefits, such as reducing odor and certain air pollutants, improving management of nutrients and protecting groundwater, and producing compost from manure solids that can be recycled as fertilizer and animal bedding. Dairy manure produces methane when it decomposes in a liquid environment free of oxygen, and methane is a powerful greenhouse gas that significantly contributes to global warming.