Farmers who reduce emissions on their dairies are now seeing real money in their accounts, thanks to a company called Athian.
Since 2024, Athian has helped farmers collect $18 million for using practices like improved feed ingredients and alternative manure management. The company also recently raised $4 million in a Series A funding round from investors across the food supply chain, showing sustainability can now bring income to farms.
“Athian’s original vision was to bring together companies from every step in the food supply chain to deliver a more resilient and sustainable product to consumers,” says Paul Myer, Athian founder and CEO. “Our new funding partners are helping us achieve that vision by supporting our industry-wide effort to give credit to farmers, processors and food companies for their sustainability efforts.”
New investors in the program include Ajinomoto Group Ventures, Chipotle Mexican Grill’s Cultivate Next Fund and Mondelēz International through its Sustainable Futures platform. Athian’s original investors, including California Dairies, Inc., Elanco Animal Health, the Australian Agriculture Company, dsm-firmenich Ventures, Newtrient, LLC, and Tyson Ventures, also continue to support the company.
Make Sustainability Pay
For farmers, making changes that reduce emissions can now come with a direct financial reward. Athian verifies the results and sells the reductions, called Scope 3 insets, to food companies, grocery stores and restaurants. Those payments go back to the farm, turning improvements like feed adjustments and manure management into real income. At the same time, the system tracks reductions across the supply chain, giving both farmers and companies measurable results.
“Chipotle’s Cultivate Next investment in Athian furthers our mission to cultivate a better world by addressing emissions from areas like animal agriculture,” says Curt Garner, Chipotle’s chief strategy and technology officer. “Tools that incentivize on-farm GHG reductions will help companies like ours achieve ambitious goals, including a 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.”
Athian recently completed its first verified inset sale with Dairy Farmers of America in early 2024 and has since added more options, including feed additives, manure management projects and a carbon intensity protocol developed with the National Milk Producers Federation and California Dairies. An expanded scientific advisory board now includes expertise from Australia to help guide protocols for farms of different sizes and systems.
For farmers, practices that improve the herd’s environmental footprint can now also improve the farm’s bottom line. With its new funding, Athian plans to add even more protocols, make emissions reductions accessible to smaller farms, and pilot programs in beef operations and international markets.
