The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s announced yesterday that it will soon implement the $400 million Dairy Donation Program established by Congress in December 2020. The department provided details on program participation to dairy processors and cooperatives in order to ensure donations of nutritious dairy products continue to make their way to Americans struggling with hunger while USDA finalizes the program.
The International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) and National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) today issued the following statements applauding USDA’s work:
“IDFA applauds USDA for advancing the Dairy Donation Program (DDP), which will facilitate the donation of fresh, nutritious dairy products to nonprofit organizations helping Americans currently struggling with hunger and nutrition issues. The U.S. dairy industry stepped up throughout the pandemic to partner with and aid non-profits, charities, and other organizations working to combat our nation’s hunger issues that were exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. This new program will help ensure persons in need continue to receive assistance and the unique combination of essential nutrients that only dairy products can provide. IDFA appreciates the department’s work to ensure dairy donations continue during this crucial time of need in our country. We will continue to work with the department to ensure the program works efficiently for dairy processors and cooperatives and the nonprofit organizations serving our nation’s food insecure families,” said Michael Dykes, D.V.M., president and CEO, IDFA.
“NMPF worked closely with Congress to enact the Dairy Donation Program (DDP) in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021. This important program will help dairy farmers and the cooperatives they own to continue to do what they do best – feed people. Dairy stakeholders are eager to expand their partnership efforts with food banks and other distributors to provide a variety of nutritious dairy products to food insecure households who have faced uniquely difficult challenges throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, as hunger has risen significantly during the last year. We commend USDA for prioritizing implementation of the DDP and look forward to continue working with the Department, the food bank community and all involved to make the program a success,” said Jim Mulhern, president and CEO, NMPF.
In a partnership that combines three key retail categories-meat, dairy and spirits-the California Beef Council (CBC) is teaming up with the California Milk Advisory Board (CMAB) and E. & J. Gallo’s Camarena Tequila for a co-branded Cinco de Mayo promotion. Dubbed “Tacos, Tequila y Más,” the 5-week campaign runs April 7 through May 11 and provides consumers with product offers and savings, recipes, videos and other taco and margarita-inspired content on a single online hub at TacoTimeCalifornia.com.
“The TacoTimeCalifornia.com site celebrates the fact that in California, ‘taco time’ is ALL the time. Beef and California Hispanic-style cheeses and cremas make for a perfect taco. Pair with Camarena-the most awarded tequila-for the ultimate taco night at home,” said Christie Van Egmond, the CBC’s Director of Retail & Foodservice Marketing. “For this campaign, the CBC is focusing on beef cuts for Carne Asada. We’re offering consumers two options to earn cash-back: $2 cash-back on any brand Carne Asada beef cuts 1 pound or larger through the Ibotta mobile app; or a $1 rebate on a $10 any brand Carne Asada purchase through Checkout 51.” Camarena Tequila and Real California Milk Hispanic-style Cheese and Crema are offering savings through in-store coupons.
Research from IRI reveals that the average shopping basket with beef is more than twice that of the typical ring ($85.70 vs. $41.33, respectively), and beef in the basket drives 44% more total store sales than baskets with chicken and 21 times the total sales as baskets with beef substitutes. What’s more, in-store spirits displays see a lift in sales when displayed near or with meat (+9%), and the average basket ring for natural cheese is $90.86 compared to a much lower $39.74 on average basket without cheese.
“When shoppers head in-store we are optimistic that they will see the mouth-watering campaign point-of-sale. And whether they’re shopping in-store or via e-commerce, we’re encouraging shoppers to add these three powerhouse products-meat, cheese and spirits-to their cart so they can create their own Tacos, Tequila y Más experience at home,” Van Egmond said.
Shoppers can take advantage of the following opportunities through TacoTimeCalifornia.com:
Consumer Mobile App Offers and In-Store IRCs: CBC will offer cash-back on Carne Asada beef cuts through Ibotta and Checkout 51 mobile apps. Real California Milk will have in-store IRCs for Hispanic-style cheeses and cremas, and Camarena Tequila will have in-store bottle-necker savings. Links to all offers will be on the campaign landing page, and quantity and pricing terms apply.
Recipe Inspiration: Look through mouth-watering images of tacos and margaritas and click-through to get the recipes and create them on your own, or gain meal inspiration through cooking videos.
Beef Product Knowledge: A portal for consumers to learn more about Carne Asada, such as which beef cuts are best, where they come from on the carcass, and how to prepare.
“In addition to the offers, recipes and videos, we’re also using the TacoTimeCalifornia.com site to launch the CBC’s new Virtual Beef Cooking Classes,” Van Egmond added. Consumers who click the link to our ‘Taco Bout Delicious!’ microsite will find an opportunity to sign up for the CBC’s first ever Beef Cooking Class, which will be a Virtual Taco Party.” There is a cost to attend the Virtual Taco Party and space is limited, Van Egmond added.
About the California Beef Council
The California Beef Council (CBC) was established in 1954 to serve as the promotion, research, and education arm of the California beef industry, and is mandated by the California Food and Agricultural Code. The CBC’s mission is to position the California beef industry for sustained beef demand growth through promotion, research and education. For more information, visit www.calbeef.org.
About the Beef Checkoff
The Beef Checkoff Program was established as part of the 1985 Farm Bill. The checkoff assesses $1 per head on the sale of live domestic and imported cattle, in addition to a comparable assessment on imported beef and beef products. States may retain up to 50 cents on the dollar and forward the other 50 cents per head to the Cattlemen’s Beef Promotion and Research Board, which administers the national checkoff program, subject to USDA approval.
About Real California Milk/California Milk Advisory Board
The California Milk Advisory Board (CMAB), an instrumentality of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, is funded by the state’s dairy farm families who lead the nation in sustainable dairy farming practices. With a vision to nourish the world with the wholesome goodness of Real California Milk, the CMAB’s programs focus on increasing demand for California’s sustainable dairy products in the state, across the U.S. and around the world through advertising, public relations, research, and retail and foodservice promotional programs. For more information and to connect with the CMAB, visit RealCaliforniaMilk.com, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.
In Mediterranean or arid climates, particularly in areas with marginal soils, crop rotations are often limited to a narrow range of hay, pasture, a handful of winter legumes, or rainy-season grasses. Arid conditions and weathered soils drove Australia’s rainfed grain growers to adopt no-till strategies earlier than their counterparts in California. While beneficial from a water use perspective, successful no-till systems depend on herbicides to control weeds that were traditionally kept in check with tillage.
Dependence on herbicides alone in these systems has resulted in weeds with resistance to multiple modes of action. In Australia, there is one documented population of rigid ryegrass (Lolium rigidum) that is resistant to 15 different herbicides, covering seven different modes of action. Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum), an annual winter species commonly found in small grain production systems in California is also notorious for its ability to develop resistance to entire groups of herbicides. One population collected in California orchards has resistance to four modes of action[1], but this population is not yet widespread.
One advantage is that California is still a long way from Australia in terms of herbicide resistance in our small grain cropping systems. We can look to Australia for 20 years of methods and data that have arisen in an effort to combat herbicide-resistant weeds. And, if we can find a way to slow the spread of herbicide resistance, we may be able to continue relying on some of the herbicides that are available in our area.
What is Harvest Weed Seed Control?
When growers need to manage herbicide-resistant populations of weeds without tillage, one strategy is to reduce the amount of seed returned to the seedbank by destroying, or removing weed seed caught during harvest operations. Collectively these strategies are referred to as Harvest Weed Seed Control (HWSC). These methods have long been studied in Australia. Researchers at Washington State University[2], Virginia, Texas, and other parts of the US have been looking into these methods for several years. With increasing herbicide resistance developing in Italian ryegrass populations in California, similar approaches may be worth exploring in the Sacramento Valley.
HWSC methods include several different strategies. Each have their own constraints and challenges, and all are designed to physically destroy seeds during or after small grain harvest. This prevents new seeds from entering the seedbank, including those that are from plants partially or fully resistant to herbicides used in the field. This reduces the rate of resistance development and the spread of resistant genes.
Narrow-windrowing – Sorting straw and chaff into narrow windrows, in an effort to contain weed seed in a small area. Windrows can be burned, grazed, or if narrow enough, allowed to compost/ rot in place. If the windrows are left alone, the high rates of carbon will drive soil microbes to scavenge for nitrogen, which subsequently immobilizes plant available nitrogen. Low available nitrogen adds to a crowded, competitive, and less-than-ideal environment for a large number weed individuals that otherwise thrive in high-nitrogen environments. Although this reduces the overall area for the crop, the tradeoff is reduced weed pressure in the rest of the field. This method is improved by the use of controlled-traffic farming, which ensures that the chaff lines end up in the same area after every harvest (maintaining the competitive environment and containing the weed seed). The material in the windrows can also be destroyed with burning or by grazing. Burning in windrows has been shown to greatly reduce the survival rate of Italian ryegrass seeds, while additional studies have shown that other species of ryegrass have a roughly 10% survival rate in ruminant stomachs. However, grazing and burning, particularly in the context of California’s wildfire risks, have their own understandable challenges associated with them.
Narrow Windrowing (photo: Grains Research and Development Corporation, Australian Government)
Chaff lining/ Chaff tramlining – This technique is similar to narrow windrowing, but in this case only the chaff is funneled into a narrow area and straw is spread throughout the field as normal. Chaff can also be moved to the sides of the combine (using a lateral conveyor belt), being deposited under the path of the wheels (this process is referred to as “tramlining”). Controlled traffic farming ensures that the seed is concentrated in the same place every year. In the case of tramlining, tractor wheels run over the weedy areas with every field operation, ensuring that any weed seeds that germinate end up growing in compacted, competitive, and highly-trafficked soil.
Chaff Lining using simple plastic guides to funnel chaff into a narrow line. (photo: Mic Fels)
Direct Baling – Collecting straw and chaff immediately into bales, usually using a tow-along baler behind the combine. After harvest, bales can be moved off the field, thereby removing a large proportion of weed seed before it can disperse into the soil. However, removal of this much biomass can be problematic for growers with low organic matter soils that otherwise benefit from maintaining residues on the ground.
Integrated impact mills – In these systems, chaff is still ejected back into the field, but only after initially going through a hammer mill that shatters and destroys the seed. High initial equipment investments can cool grower enthusiasm. However, one 2017 report from Australia indicated that 29% of growers considered impact mills to be part of their future operations, indicating that at least some growers consider the benefits to outweigh the costs. Combine compatibility can also be a problem as most of the mills are designed to accommodate the larger combines of the midwest, whereas most California combines are typically optimized for relatively smaller acreage.
One version of an impact mill attachment added to the back of a combine behind the cleaning sieves (photo: Redekop Mfg)
Limitations and project work
The caveat to all of this is that in order for HWSC to be effective, fields need to be harvested before weed seeds shatter (falling from the plant to the ground). As of yet the shatter patterns of Italian ryegrass in California are not well known. Additionally, previous research has indicated that Italian ryegrass seed retention at small grains harvest can be highly variable across different locations. For example, researchers from the inland Pacific Northwest have reported Italian ryegrass seed retention rates at harvest of 27-50% whereas a 58% of seed retention has been found in Australia. Furthermore, grains in California are planted at different times of the year and our harvest season occurs at different times of the year relative to Australia (not to mention the Pacific Northwest).
Shatter patterns might well be the same as those in other areas of the world but calling for a full scale HWSC revolution isn’t very useful unless we know that a good amount of the weed seed has not yet shattered in the field when small grain crops are harvested.
In an effort to address this, UC researchers will begin collecting data on the shatter status of Italian ryegrass populations in several areas of the Sacramento Valley leading up to harvest. If we consistently see that a significant portion of the Italian ryegrass seed remains attached to the plant at harvest, then HWSC strategies may offer viable control options for California. Conversely, if ryegrass seed has largely shattered by the time our grain crops are harvested, then California growers may need to consider other options for control.
Of course, the best control strategies for herbicide-resistant weeds still include a mixture of different tools such as: the use of herbicides with different modes of action (including pre-emergent and post-emergent types where possible), the use of diversified crop rotations, and well-timed mechanical control. However, a better understanding of the potential for HWSC in California may give growers an edge in reducing the spread of herbicide resistance.
If growers in Sacramento, Solano, or Yolo County are interested in collaborating with UC Cooperative Extension Agronomists in trials focusing on control of Italian ryegrass in small grain crops or have related questions, please reach out to Konrad Mathesius (kpmathesius@ucanr.edu). — By Konrad Mathesius, with contributions from Thomas Gets, Jose Luis Carvalho de Souza Dias, Brad Hanson, and Mark Lundy (UC Cooperative Extension)
How do you build a better dairy cow? Use a tool designed to study the human genome, of course.
Working alongside international research partners in the Agricultural Genome to Phenome Initiative (AG2PI), Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists are using technology to meet the challenges of the increasing global population and ever-changing environmental stressors. The goal of AG2PI is to better understand how genetics and the environment together influence the performance of plants and animals. This is easier said than done because regional environmental differences can vary the results of seeds from the same plant.
“We know that nature (genotype) and nurture (environment and management) are both important factors in agricultural production (phenotype),” said Caird Rexroad III, ARS national program leader for animal production and protection in Beltsville, MD. “We need to better understand exactly how they affect production to develop optimal production strategies that are tailored to the diversity of genetics and environments that make up U.S. and world agriculture.”
To achieve this goal, AG2PI reaches across kingdoms (scientific classifications) to examine genome-to-phenome challenges. Scientists in the various specialties work together to identify and fill in similar research gaps, access advanced cyberinfrastructure, and share data and new technology, such as sensors, robotics, and imaging platforms.
“AG2PI is a community of scientists who share a passion for agricultural research and developing technologies that improve our ability to produce a safe, abundant, healthy, and affordable food supply,” Rexroad said. “This platform is inclusive of many scientific disciplines that may not have interacted in the past, such as breeders, engineers, economists, social scientists, etc., and works by sharing ideas, providing trainings on state-of-the-art technologies, and enhancing communication and collaboration.”
One example of how ARS scientists used AG2PI to avoid research “stovepipes” (the term used to describe how one group may isolate its information from other unrelated groups) involves the international research to improve dairy cattle.
“The Genome-to-Phenome Initiative began for us in 2007,” said Curt Van Tassell, research geneticist at the ARS Animal Genomics and Improvements Laboratory in Beltsville. According to Van Tassell, the landmark study used existing technology from one scientific discipline and applied it to another; in this case, technology was developed for the human genome and adapted for use in the cow by designing a DNA chip to characterize the whole genome of the cow.
“We worked closely with dairy genetics industry partners to implement genome-enabled genetic improvement with dramatic impact in the dairy industry,” Van Tassell said. “With the help of our partners, we revolutionized the world of genetic improvement in livestock in one fell swoop.”
While AG2PI is not in itself a scientific project, it supports all agricultural research that will benefit farmers, ranchers, and consumers, Rexroad said. “Farmers and ranchers will have access to genetics and management practices that will increase yields, improve crop and animal health and well-being, increase production efficiency or product value, and improve sustainability in the production system,” he said.
“AG2PI is all about agricultural research, and it is inclusive of many scientific disciplines, and that ties into the ARS goal of finding solutions to agricultural problems that affect Americans everyday from farm to table,” Rexroad said. – By Scott Elliott, USDA-ARS Office of Communications
Producers under the California Federal Marketing Order (CFMO) are paid according to the quantity of components in their milk (pounds of butterfat, protein, and other solids) and their respective prices along with a proportionate share of the classified value of the monthly pool as accounted for in the Producer Price Differential (PPD). As has been the case in recent months, the PPD is negative when the collective value of producer components exceeds the classified value of the pool. Two components—butterfat and protein—account for most of the value in a producer’s milk check. This value depends on both the price of each component as well as the concentration of each component in producer milk. This article examines the amount of protein and butterfat in pooled producer milk. The accompanying figures illustrate the butterfat and protein tests of pooled milk on Federal Order (FO) 51 since the Order’s inception and compare them to those under other FOs and to the weighted average tests of all other FOs that utilize component pricing. A map of all Federal Orders and their respective marketing area is available at https://cafmmo.com/publications/marketing-area-maps/.
Seasonal Trends
Pooled component tests under all FO areas exhibit a clear seasonal trend: butterfat and protein levels tend to peak in the early winter months, decrease through the spring months, and reach their lowest levels in the warmer summer months before climbing through the fall. This strong seasonal trend is present even in FO areas like FO 124 (Pacific Northwest) and FO 33 (Mideast), which had the highest and lowest butterfat tests, respectively, during the period.
Regional Comparisons
As shown in Figure 1, FO 51 pool butterfat tests tend to be lower than those of other FO areas. The weighted average butterfat tests in FO 51 from November 2018 to February 2021 is 3.88 percent, the lowest among all FO areas, but only 0.01 percentage points less than FO 33. FO 124 had the highest weighted average butterfat test at 4.10 percent. Excluding FO 51, the weighted average for FO areas using component pricing is 3.96 percent. It is important to note that the low volume of milk pooled and utilized as Class III, as experienced in many orders during 2020, is likely a factor behind some Orders’ lower average component tests.
Although FO 51 had lower butterfat tests than other FO areas, Figure 2 illustrates that FO 51’s pooled protein tests are significantly above the weighted average for all other FO areas in many months. In fact, FO 51 posted the third-highest weighted average protein test between November 2018 and February 2021 among FOs at 3.21 percent. FO 126 (Southwest) posted the highest weighted average protein test at 3.28, while FO 1 (Northeast) had the lowest at 3.12 percent. Overall, FO 51 posted a weighted average protein test 0.03 percentage points higher than that of all other FO areas using component pricing (3.18). When viewed in the context of recent component pricing trends—namely, record high protein prices in 2020—high protein tests generated the most revenue for producers. Protein accounted for seventy-five percent of the gross payment to FO 51 dairy farmers in 2020 (when calculated at the average tests of pooled milk).
Market dynamics will continue to have an influence on the component tests of pooled producer milk as producers look to their milk checks and maximize their payment. Pooled component tests, although not indicative of protein and butterfat in milk withheld from the pool, still offer valuable insight into regional and seasonal variations in component levels.— By Cary Hunter, California Federal Milk Marketing Order
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) today announced the 2021 Marketing Assistance Loan rates.
Marketing Assistance Loans provide interim financing to producers so that commodities can be stored after harvest when market prices are typically low and sold later when market conditions may be more favorable. The 2018 Farm Bill extended the Marketing Assistance Loan program, making production for the 2019 through 2023 crops eligible for loan benefits.
As part of a broader effort to help farmers, ranchers and producers who felt the impact of COVID-19 market disruptions, FSA has increased flexibilities for producers with Marketing Assistance Loans. Loans now mature at 12 months rather than nine for loans on most commodities. This applies to all loans disbursed beginning October 1, 2020, as well as any new loans requested by September 30, 2021. These flexibilities are part of USDA’s broader Pandemic Assistance for Producers initiative, which includes direct payments. More information can be found on farmers.gov/pandemic-assistance.
More Information
The CCC’s domestic agricultural price and income support programs are carried out primarily through the personnel and facilities of FSA.
For more information about the CCC, visit usda.gov/ccc. Producers interested in Marketing Assistance Loans should contact the FSA county office at their local USDA Service Center.
While USDA offices are currently closed to visitors because of the pandemic, Service Center staff continue to work with agricultural producers via phone, email, and other digital tools. To conduct business, please contact your local USDA Service Center. Additionally, more information related to USDA’s response and relief for producers can be found at farmers.gov/coronavirus.
USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer and lender.
Barley is important for more than beer. A UC Riverside geneticist has won $1.7 million to study how one of the world’s staple foods might survive climate change.
The National Science Foundation CAREER Award to Daniel Koenig, an assistant professor in the Department of Botany and Plant Sciences, will reveal details about genetic adaptations barley has made in the past to enable its survival over thousands of years. These details will also help steer its future as weather becomes more extreme.
In addition to alcoholic beverages, barley is used as a major crop for feeding both animals and humans. It ranks fourth among cereals in terms of total world production. After it was domesticated as a crop over 10,000 years ago, it spread rapidly to environments as different as hot, dry Egypt and cold, wet Minnesota.
Koenig, who studies plant evolution, wonders how the plant has been able to successfully adapt to these wildly different places.
“Though we have the tools to compare the DNA of plants collected in different countries, our challenge is understanding which genes evolved in response to weather and which evolved over time in response to other pressures, like diseases,” Koenig said.
Since only one generation of a plant can be grown per year, the process of observing adaptation real-time is lengthy. To speed up progress, Koenig’s lab is making use of an experiment started in the 1920s. Breeders took barley varieties collected from all over the world and have grown them over the last century in Davis, Calif., and Bozeman, Mont.
“We can analyze the genes of these varieties, watch as they continue to adapt, and identify the genes that might be responsible for their survival,” Koenig said.
The NSF CAREER Award is a competitive grant for promising new faculty to help them improve their integration of research and teaching. In this case, Koenig is going to use the award to train undergraduates to compare genes from the beginning of the 1920s experiment with those from today.
Students will learn to use both traditional molecular biology and newer, computational techniques for this project. The process of identifying survival genes in barley can also be repeated for other crops, helping to ensure the future of other foods as well.
Growing up in the Central Valley surrounded by agriculture, and attending graduate school at UC Davis, Koenig is excited to expose a new generation of students to food science.
“This grant will provide an opportunity for students, especially those who grew up in urban environments, to learn about agriculture and give them the basis for possible careers in agricultural science,” Koenig said. — By Jules Bernstein, UC Riverside
The U.S. Dairy Export Council (USDEC) and the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) urged the Biden Administration to work to eliminate foreign tariffs on and nontariff impediments to U.S. exports, following the release today by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) of the 2021 National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers.
The annual report looks at progress made and challenges remaining on U.S. trade, investment and services in countries around the globe. Compiled from information from USTR, interagency partners and public stakeholders, this year’s report covers 65 countries and regions, including Arab League nations, the European Union (EU), key Asian markets and important Western Hemisphere destinations for U.S. dairy products.
USDEC and NMPF submitted comments on the major trade obstacles facing the U.S. dairy industry last October, pointing out that tariffs and nontariff barriers in many countries remain significant roadblocks to American dairy exports. Several of those concerns were incorporated in USTR’s report including dairy trade issues in Mexico, Canada, China and the EU, among others. In addition, USTR highlighted in its release that the key agricultural trade barriers captured in the NTE included “restrictions on the ability of U.S. producers to use the common names of the products that they produce and export”.
“Exports are extremely important to the U.S. dairy industry, which shipped more than $6.5 billion of product to destinations worldwide in 2020,” said Krysta Harden, President and CEO of USDEC. “Obstacles to those exports negatively affect the economic well-being of America’s dairy farmers and jeopardize dairy processing jobs and workers throughout the supply chain who support our industry. These barriers must be removed.”
“We need USTR to continue pressing our trading partners to eliminate tariffs and nontariff barriers that restrict our dairy exports,” added Jim Mulhern, President and CEO of NMPF. “The best way to do that is by implementing new Free Trade Agreements and enforcing existing agreements.”
USDEC and NMPF in their comments focused on barriers in key dairy export markets such as Canada, China, the EU and Mexico. Among the bigger obstacles cited by the organizations were the misuse of geographical indications (GIs) and unscientific import requirements and mandates.
On GIs, for example, the EU has sought to effectively monopolize common cheese terms by attempting to prohibit American cheese makers from using names such as asiago, feta, gorgonzola, gruyere and parmesan and keep out imports of U.S.-made cheeses with those names, not only in EU nations, but in other countries as well.
The EU also is a leading offender in employing prescriptive requirements to limit imports, including dairy products, imposing, for example, specific animal disease oversight and documentation procedures and limiting the use of veterinary drugs and commonly used antimicrobials. These are the kinds of barriers USDEC and NMPF urge USTR to remove to ensure exports of U.S. dairy products are available to consumers around the world and to protect the millions of American jobs supported by the U.S. dairy industry.
Dairy Cares — California is leading the nation toward a 100 percent clean energy future. Multiple state policies are working to achieve a cleaner, more efficient energy grid and transportation sector. The state’s dairy farmers are also world leaders in energy-smart practices. They’re reducing usage, electrifying equipment, generating renewable energy, and producing carbon-negative transportation fuel.
California has already made great strides in its clean energy and energy conservation goals:
California is the nation’s top producer of electricity from solar, geothermal, and biomass energy.
The state is the nation’ second-largest hydroelectricity producer and the fifth-largest of wind energy.
An estimated 60% of California’s electricity comes from carbon-free sources.
California accounts for almost half of the nation’s electric vehicle sales and 30% of all public electric charging stations.
California has the second-lowest per capita energy use in both the residential and commercial sectors.
The state’s family dairy farms play an important role in these milestones, part of their commitment to planet-smart practices. Their clean energy investments also help improve economic sustainability. Offsetting costs is important, with electricity rates already high and predicted to rise more than 40% over the next ten years.
Energy efficiency and electrification on dairies
Over the past several years, dairy farmers have been partnering with local utility providers to conduct energy audits. The audits identify opportunities, enabling farmers to implement changes that reduce energy needs. Incentive and rebate programs have helped them to invest in the latest, most efficient technologies—changing the way they light barns and milking parlors, pump water, refrigerate milk, and keep cows cool. Individual farms have cut energy use up to 20% through efficiency investments. However, as farms convert from diesel to electric equipment—reducing reliance on fossil fuels and cleaning the air—their need for electricity is also growing.
Steve Maddox is one of more than 150 California dairy farmers who generates solar energy.
Solar dairy farms
Investments in solar energy is another way many dairy farmers are offsetting costs and helping create a cleaner electricity grid. More than 150 of the state’s dairy farms are generating solar energy for on-farm usage. The average capacity of these systems is about 1 megawatt (MW). Several dairy farmers are now doubling their investments, adding more panels to achieve 2-3 MW capacity. Depending on farm size and crop irrigation needs, these systems are meeting the majority of farm energy needs.
Jared Fernandes’ family dairy is creating carbon-negative transportation.
Digesters fueling transportation
California is also leading the nation in the development of dairy digesters, which capture methane emissions and create renewable energy. About 140 projects are in operation or in various stages of development. The earliest projects built in the state produce electricity. Now, more than 115 California dairy farms already or will soon create carbon-negative transportation fuel to replace the use of diesel in heavy-duty trucks. These “barn-to-biogas” projects are helping shrink dairy’s carbon footprint to unprecedented levels, while also helping the state meet clean air and transportation goals. Transportation is the largest source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in California, accounting for more than 50 percent of GHGs. Dairy digesters provide significant farm-related greenhouse gas reductions and play an important role in achieving the state’s climate goals.
Dairy farmers are doing their part to contribute to a sustainable, clean energy future that benefits all Californians.
CDFA’s Alternative Manure Management Program (AMMP) provides financial assistance for the implementation of non-digester manure management practices on California dairy and livestock operations, which will result in reduced emissions of methane, a greenhouse gas (GHG) 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide in its potential to warm the atmosphere.
Eligible practices for funding through AMMP include: pasture-based management; alternative manure treatment and storage (such as compost bedded pack barns); and solid separation or conversion from flush to scrape in conjunction with some form of drying or composting of collected manure.
In March 2021, all 35 projects funded by the AMMP in the 2018 round have been completed. Collectively, these projects will reduce GHG emissions by 296,060 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents (MTCO2e) over the project life of 5 years. Some of the 2018 AMMP recipients include Art Silva Dairy, Den-K Holsteins, Frank Coelho & Sons Dairy, and SBS Ag Dairy.
The AMMP is funded through the California Climate Investments and was first launched in 2017. To date, the program has had four rounds of funding, in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020. For all four rounds, 114 incentive projects have been funded with a projected GHG emission reduction of 1.1 million MTCO2e over 5 years. Sixty-one projects funded in 2019 and 2020 are expected to be completed in 2021 and 2022, respectively. Eighteen projects funded in 2017 were completed by the summer of 2020.
“I am very pleased that we have reached this milestone in the AMMP program,” said CDFA secretary Karen Ross. “California dairy farmers are achieving methane reductions every day, having changed their manure management practices in significant ways. These changes will help our dairy families meet their sustainability goals well into the future.”
Interested stakeholders and members of the public may sign up to receive AMMP-related updates through the mailing listof the CDFA’s Office of Environmental Farming and Innovation (OEFI), home to CDFA’s numerous Climate Smart Agriculture Incentives Programs in addition to AMMP, such as the Dairy Digester Research and Development Program (DDRDP), State Water Efficiency and Enhancement Program (SWEEP) and the Healthy Soils Program (HSP).
CDFA’s