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Enteric Methane Emission Reduction Programs

2023 State of The Science Summit - Feed strategies to reduce enteric emissions

CDFA, the University of California, Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and UC Davis CLEAR Center staged the State of the Science Summit: Feed Strategies to Reduce Enteric Emissions on May 2 and 3, 2023. Organizers released in November 2023 a report summarizing the information shared at the conference. The main purpose of the summit was to identify opportunities for collaboration and research that can help the dairy and beef industries meet climate goals by tackling enteric methane emissions.

Final report

Livestock Enteric Methane Emission Reduction Research Program (LEMER-RP)

The Livestock Enteric Methane Emission Reduction Research Program (LEMER-RP) is a new program under CDFA’s Office of Environmental Farming and Innovation (OEFI). The Budget Act of 2022 (AB 179, Section 194) appropriated a total of $10 million payable from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Funds (GGRF) to the CDFA to award a total of $9.5 million in competitive grant(s) to fund demonstration trials evaluating additives and dietary modifications that have the potential to reduce enteric methane emissions in the dairy and livestock sectors. These research projects will help address key barriers to achieving California’s climate goals, which include the reduction of methane emissions to 40% below 2013 levels by 2030 as codified in SB 1383 (Lara, 2016) as well as efforts to continue advancing climate-smart agriculture.

The funding allocated will be directed towards the dairy and livestock sectors for demonstration projects to:

1. Supplement feed with additives or ingredients, that have scientifically demonstrated efficacy in reducing methane emissions, and
2. Research dietary modifications that are intended to reduce methane emissions from livestock