Rapid Response of Dairy Industry in Addressing Methane Emissions
The dairy industry has been making significant strides in lowering methane emissions on dairy farms. Farmers have been proactive in the development of projects that will move the industry as a whole toward the collective goal of emission reduction.
“This industry has done a phenomenal job of reducing its manure methane emissions over just the last several years with the digesters and alternative manure management projects that we’ve been putting in,” said Paul Sousa, Director of Environmental Services for Western United Dairymen.
California dairy farmers are on a timetable for lowering methane emissions after the passage of Senate Bill 1383. The legislation calls for significant methane reductions by 2030, but Sousa noted that farmers have been addressing the issue head-on and made real progress with some of the incentives that have been made available.
“They’re seeing incentive funding today and so their thought is ‘you know what? I’m going to take advantage of the incentive funding today rather than wait for the regulation to come into place a few years from now,’” said Sousa. “I think it is a bit of a success story also, how fast we’ve moved in response to this and I’d like to see us continuing to move at a pretty quick pace.”
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