The California Dairy Research Foundation (CDRF) and the state’s Dept. of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) Office of Environmental Farming and Innovation announced nearly $18 million in grant funds would be awarded to 15 dairy farm projects in the state aimed at advancing the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and improving nitrogen management at these sites.
The $17.97 million worth of grants were awarded through the Dairy Plus Program in conjunction with corresponding Alternative Manure Management Program (AMMP) and Dairy Digester Research and Development Program (DDRDP) projects.
The Dairy Plus Program is allied with the AMMP and DDRDP programs to incentivize projects that increase dry handling and storage of manure to reduce methane production, or projects that capture methane via digesters. The Dairy Plus Program also helps improve nutrient management and water quality outcomes.
Projects selected for funding included vermifiltration (filtration of manure wastewater using worm beds), advanced solid separation assisted by flocculants (coagulation of fine manure solids for separation out of liquid) and weeping walls (non-mechanical separation of manure solids from water) that reduce methane production while improving management of nitrogen.
According to the announcement, this year’s Dairy Plus program recipients are estimated to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an annual total of 148,451 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents (MTCO2e), the equivalent of removing about 32,600 cars from the road each year.
