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SACRAMENTO, December 22, 2025 – CDFA’s Office of Agricultural Resilience and Sustainability (OARS) and California Dairy Research Foundation (CDRF) are pleased to announce the award of $26.8 million in federal grant funding through the Dairy Plus Program for 23 on-farm methane emission reduction and water quality improvement projects across California, directly supporting dairy farmers in their efforts to implement sustainable practices. As an important part of this state-federal partnership program, $7.8 million in Greenhouse Gas Reduction Funds (GGRF) is being leveraged through associated projects awarded by the Alternative Manure Management Program (AMMP) and the Dairy Digester Research and Development Program (DDRDP) to serve as matching funds for this federal investment.
“Supporting dairy and livestock producers in their drive to implement sustainable practices while continuing to provide nutritious, local food for California is more important now than ever,” said CDFA Secretary Karen Ross. “Dairy farmers and livestock ranchers are putting effective new technologies and best practices to work in their barns and fields, and these projects keep that progress in motion.”
This funding is part of a broader collaboration between CDFA, CDRF, and the USDA as part of the Advancing Markets for Producers initiative (formerly Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities program). The Dairy Plus Program focuses on larger-scale, more holistic projects that improve water quality, manage nitrogen and salt surplus, and reduce methane emissions through the use of innovative practices such as vermifiltration, advanced solid-liquid separation, and non-mechanical separation of manure solids from water.
By implementing advanced manure management practices, the awarded dairy farmers will improve their manure management practices and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by an estimated annual total of 124,541 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MTCO2e) annually, which is equivalent to removing over 29,050 cars from the road for a year. These projects also provide other important co-benefits, such as reducing odor and certain air pollutants, improving management of nutrients and protecting groundwater, and producing compost from manure solids that can be recycled as fertilizer and animal bedding. Dairy manure produces methane when it decomposes in a liquid environment free of oxygen, and methane is a powerful greenhouse gas that significantly contributes to global warming.
This Dairy Plus Program grant round, the second for the program, is funding a total of 23 projects – 21 are in the AMMP track, receiving $24.7 million in grant funds with $27.5 million proposed in private matching funds, and two projects are in the DDRDP track, receiving $2.1 million in grant funds with approximately $1.1 million in private matching funds. Awards for the Dairy Plus Program are contingent on pre-project consultation and compliance with federal requirements.
For more than a decade, California’s dairy families and livestock producers have played a leading role in advancing climate-smart, on-farm solutions. Their willingness to adopt new technologies, rethink longstanding practices, and invest in environmental stewardship has been central to California’s ability to make meaningful progress toward the methane reduction goals established under SB 1383. Through AMMP, DDRDP, and the Dairy Plus Program, producers have demonstrated a level of innovation and collaboration that has become a national model for agricultural climate action.
Collectively, these efforts are delivering measurable benefits. To date, projects supported through CDFA’s suite of dairy methane reduction programs represent an estimated 27.43 million MTCO2e in total reductions over their minimum projected life-time, significantly contributing to the state’s progress toward reducing methane emissions 40 percent below 2013 levels by 2030. The continued partnership with dairy families and ranching communities underscores how climate solutions can be successfully implemented on working farms while strengthening long-term economic and environmental resilience.
For more details on awarded projects, eligible practices, and other information, please visit CDFA’s Dairy Plus Program.
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