Cornell Research Supports U.S. Dairy's Net Zero Initiative

In 2020, the dairy industry boldly committed to the goal of achieving greenhouse gas neutrality by 2050. The Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy is leading research to support that goal through the U.S. Dairy Net Zero Initiative with key partners like the Soil Health Institute. The collaboration is called Dairy Soil & Water Regeneration: building soil health to reduce greenhouse gases, improve water quality and enable new economic benefits.

The project aims to discover how factors like manure source, cover crops and reduced tillage impact greenhouse gas emissions, soil health, and forage yield and quality. Funding comes from dairy industry stakeholders and a $10 million allocation from the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research.