Cornell researchers are partnering with NGO scientists to develop and rapidly implement strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the dairy industry. Ahead of Climate Week NYC 2025, the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability and NGO partners announce the five inaugural recipients of their Dairy Sustainability Awards. The jointly managed collaborative research awards will explore improving calf nutrition, using feed additives that reduce methane emissions, supporting manure digesters that capture biogas and enhancing methane emissions data-gathering using satellites and aircraft.
The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Clean Air Task Force (CATF) and Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) are longtime partners of Cornell Atkinson on a myriad of issues. These new research awards stemmed from a joint workshop last fall that explored key gaps in research, policy or technology that, if addressed, could quickly enable dairy farms to improve their sustainability. Partners will showcase the new awardees and continue their collaboration on dairy sustainability science, policy and practice at a Climate Week NYC panel on livestock climate solutions. The panel is open for registration in-person and via livestream.
"When we talk about sustainability in the dairy industry, we mean that in every sense of the term," said Patrick Beary, the Bruce H. Bailey Senior Director of Strategic Partnerships for Cornell Atkinson. "We're reducing environmental impacts while helping dairy farms remain profitable. These win-win solutions benefit farmers, communities and the environment."
Dairy farmers, whose livelihoods depend upon being responsible stewards of their land, have already made considerable gains in reducing their greenhouse gas emissions: Between 2007 and 2017, U.S. dairy producers reduced emissions by 19%, land use by 21% and water use by 30%, according to research published in the Journal of Animal Science.
But livestock agriculture still accounts for roughly 30% of human-caused methane emissions. A short-lived but powerful greenhouse gas, methane only persists in the atmosphere for 10-12 years but traps 80-86 times as much heat as carbon dioxide.
Agricultural methane emissions are expected to increase as global populations grow and incomes rise, so addressing this challenge quickly is critical, said Fernanda Ferreira, director for agriculture methane at CATF. Each of the organizations in this partnership bring strengths that will speed the processes of discovery and implementation, she said.
"Clean Air Task Force brings a long track record of designing and advancing effective environmental policy, while our partners contribute complementary strengths. Cornell provides globally respected research and breakthrough science on livestock sustainability. EDF and TNC bring deep expertise in applying science to practical solutions, advancing corporate action, and implementing projects on the ground," Ferreira said. "Together, we can ensure that cutting-edge research directly informs policy and practice, making it more likely that solutions are adopted at scale."
"Advancing dairy sustainability, with a focus on reducing methane emissions, is a critical opportunity for hitting the brakes on climate change within the next few decades, and joint projects like this are a clear example of how it can be done," said John Tauzel, senior director of global agriculture methane at EDF. "Innovation and collaboration are essential to solving the complex challenges around lower emissions dairy while supporting global nutrition and farmer profitability, and here we have a template for working together to solve a global issue."
The 2025 awards are jointly funded by Cornell, TNC, EDF and CATF. To incentivize cross-collaboration, total funding available to Cornell research teams increases with the number of NGO partners - $50,000 for projects involving one NGO, $100,000 for two and $150,000 for collaborations with all three. Award recipients will explore:
The Cornell Dairy Methane Benchmark: Validating Data to Support Climate Mitigation in Livestock
With the U.S. dairy industry pledging to achieve Net Zero by 2050, there is an urgent need for scalable methane monitoring systems, as effective mitigation strategies depend on accurately and consistently tracking emissions over time. The primary goal of this project is to evaluate the feasibility of using satellite- and aircraft-based methane data as a tool to monitor dairy farming emissions and inform policy development and on-farm decision-making. Data will be gathered from the Cornell Nutrient Management Spear Program farms, from EDF's MethaneAIR, which measure methane emissions from a specially equipped jet, from Carbon Mapper, and from the United Nations Environment Programme's International Methane Emissions Observatory. To ensure practical impact, project partners will engage stakeholders through workshops with dairy farmers, industry experts and policymakers.
Cornell: Miel Hostens (CALS, Animal Science); Joseph McFadden (CALS, Animal Science); Quirine Ketterings (CALS, Animal Science)
NGO Partners: Fernanda Ferreira (CATF); Joe Rudek (EDF)
Interventions in Early Life of Dairy Calves to Reduce Methane Emissions in Adulthood
Around 40% of dairy operations in the U.S. get their heifer cow replacements from large calf-raising facilities, many of which limit their feedings to one gallon of milk or milk replacer twice daily. Previous studies have shown that calves fed additional milk or milk replacer produced more milk during their first lactation, experienced less disease, gained more weight and emitted less methane than calves fed lower nutritional plans. This project will study 122 dairy calves, half fed a diet similar to that fed in large calf ranches and half fed a higher energy diet. Researchers will test the effects of improved feeding plans for dairy calves and measure their methane intensity at different time points post-weaning with a greenhouse gas sensor.
Cornell: Francisco Leal Yepes (Vet School, Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences)
NGO Partners: Fernanda Ferreira (CATF); Peri Rosenstein (EDF)
Rapid Screening of Manure Storage Additives to Reduce Emissions and Enhance Fertilizer Benefits
In the U.S., dairy manure storage protects water quality and provides an important fertilizer source for farmers' fields, but it also emits significant amounts of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, and ammonia. Direct manure additives are increasingly marketed to dairy producers as a silver bullet fix for these emissions, boasting up to 90% reductions in methane and ammonia, but most of these performance claims have not been substantiated by a neutral third party. Researchers will test commercial manure additives and develop a rigorous screening protocol to identify other promising manure additives for testing. They will share findings with dairy farmers and policymakers to facilitate wider dairy producer adoption of effective products.
Cornell: Jason Oliver (CALS, Animal Science)
NGO Partners: Fernanda Ferreira (CATF); Stephanie Herbstritt (CATF); Joe Rudek (EDF); Partha Ray (TNC); Alisha Staggs (TNC)
Studies suggest that, although feed additives may provide emission reduction in dairy cattle, farmer and consumer acceptance of these products is unclear. In order to examine the market and methane reduction potential of feed additives in the U.S. dairy industry, this research will examine consumer and dairy farmer views of these technologies. Researchers will assess consumer acceptance and willingness to pay for dairy products from cows fed diets containing methane-reducing ingredients, such as 3-nitrooxypropanol (3NOP), seaweed, tannins and essential oils. Researchers will also analyze dairy producer attitudes and willingness to supply milk produced using methane-reducing feed additives. Together, these will reveal the market potential for reducing dairy cow methane emissions using feed additives and support development of market-based and policy mechanisms to accelerate adoption.
Cornell: Christopher Wolf (SC Johnson, Dyson); Wendong Zhang (SC Johnson, Dyson); Mike Van Amburgh (CALS, Animal Science)
NGO Partners: Fernanda Ferreira (CATF); Joe Rudek (EDF); Partha Ray (TNC); Alisha Staggs (TNC)
Understanding Biogas Utilization Pathways and State-Level Policies from U.S. Dairy Digesters
Dairy manure digesters capture methane from manure that would otherwise have been emitted in the form of biogas. This biogas can be used to generate electricity on the farm, it can be upgraded to renewable natural gas (which can be sold for commercial use off-farm), or it can be flared. The emission-saving potential of digesters depends on how the biogas is used and on the surrounding infrastructure for processing and transport of biogas end products, fugitive emissions and new co-pollutants. To enable maximum emissions reductions and clarity among diverse policies, researchers will create an inventory of federal and state-level policies for anaerobic digesters, and a map of potential locations for future digesters, taking into account different biogas utilization pathways.
Cornell: Wendong Zhang (SC Johnson, Dyson); Christopher Wolf (SC Johnson, Dyson); Lauren Ray (CALS, Animal Science)
NGO Partners: Akin Olumoroti (EDF); Partha Ray (TNC); Alisha Staggs (TNC)
Krisy Gashler is a writer for the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability.
