Dairy Report: California Program Cutting Methane Emissions with Help from Dairy
Dairy Report 032621
According to one expert, we are on the path to climate neutrality in agriculture which could be achieved in the next ten years, and the dairy industry is helping lead the way.
Frank Mitloehner is a professor and air quality specialist with the University of California-Davis. He says California is leading by example through collaboration between the government and the state's livestock and dairy industries. The state is putting forward half a billion dollars toward the effort of reducing methane and partnered with dairy and livestock producers.
“Out came a situation where we now have many of our dairies capping their lagoons, trapping the biogas and then converting the biogas into renewable natural gas, which is a fuel type,” Mitloehner says. “We now how dairies that take advantage of this and really have a significant income stream through this converter biogas to a fuel.”
The fuel is then used in semi-trucks and fleet vehicles. Mitloehener says methane gas has been reduced in California by 25% over the last three years.
Dairy Donation Program
The dairy industry is playing an important part in keeping people fed during the pandemic. USDA this week acknowledged the Dairy Donation Program and its importance by expanding aid for it as part of the new Pandemic Assistance for Producers.
The National Milk Producers Federation saying last year, farmers and dairy companies partnered with local food banks to deliver 469-million lb. of dairy. That includes milk, cheese, and yogurt to families in need, and that's just through the Feeding America program. It says the dairy donation program should make dairy-related food assistance even more readily available to those who need it.
