2023 March Board Book

"Milk demand is growing, andCalifornia is among the world's low-cost suppliers of dairy products. It follows that effective California policy to reduce dairy greenhouse gas emissions must recognize that measures that cause milk production to exit the state do not mitigate global climate change," said study coauthor Daniel Sumner, Distinguished Professor in the Department of Agriculture and Resource Economics at UC Davis. "Thereforelmeasures to help off-set mitigation costs, provide positive incentives for adoption of low-cost emission- reducing practices, and help stimulate innovation in methane reduction, are the economically ef ficient approaches." The paper recognizes that enteric methane from the dairy and other livestock sectors is a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. and California. Several feed additives are expected to become commercially available in the next several years, which could be used to reduce enteric T ethane emissions from California's dairy herd. "Adoption of enteric feed additives will become a valuable tool for dairy value chains to meet their greenhouse gas reduction goals," said coauthor and professor Dr . Ermlas Kebreab, Associate Dean of Global Engagement and Director of the World Food Center at UC Davis. "While this report provides dnly a broad overview of some of the most promising solutions, there is an incredible amount of research being conducted at UC Davis, nationally and internationally. The dairy industry, global food companies, state and federal agencies, and others continue to invest heavily in supporting enteric mitigation researct1 efforts."

The report finds that methane reductions from California's programs and projects in place today, coupled with the implementation of a moderate feed additive strategy to reduce enteric emissions, is on track to reduce between 7.61 to 10.59million metric tons of methane (CO2e) by 2030, all from the dairy sector alone.

The collective investment in California's dairy methane reduction effort - from public and private funding - now exceeds $2 billion and counting. The California dairy sector, in coordination with the California Department of Food and Agriculture, was recently awarded up to $85 million by the United States Department of Agriculture under the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities. The funding will leverage additional matching state funds and private capital investments, for a total of more than $300 million in new investment.

"It is important to highlight California's investments and success to date as an example of what is possible within the global livestock sector," said co-author, Dr. Frank Mitloehner, professor and air quality specialist and director of the UC Davis CLEAR Center. "California dairy farmers have demonstrated tremendous progress toward the

state's methane reduction goal over the past several years. Given the short-lived nature of methane, this rapid reduction is an important contribution to the global effort

to quickly limit climate warming."

The author's analysis was prepared by Gladstein Neandross & Associates (GNA). Funding was provided by CDRF as part of Its work to support an innovative and sustainable California dairy industry.

Read the report California dairy is on a pathway to meet emissions reduction goals established by the California legislator if it

continues to aggressively reduce methane.

About the CLEAR Center

The CLEAR Center, based in the UC Davis Department of Animal Sciences, is working to Improve sustainability in livestock with research and science communication. The CLEAR Center, which stands for Clarity and Leadership for Environmental Awareness and Research, is under the direction of Frank Mitloehner, animal science professor and air quality specialist in Cooperative Extension. Catch up on CLEAR Center's latest news and research at htt11s://clear.ucdavis.edu/

About the California Dairy Research Foundation (CDRF)

The California Dairy Research Foundation is an independent nonprofit public benefit foundation with a mission to lead and deliver the best research and science-based

educational and outreach programs to support an innovative and sustainable California dairy industry. For more information about CORF and the research it supports,

visit www.cdrf.org.

Media Resources

Joe Proudman, CLEAR Center 530-754-1989 jproudman@ucdavis.edu

Kimberly Yarris, CORF 530-219-407 4

yarris@cdrf.org

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climate neutrality

Dairy