Livestock and Dairy Research

About Livestock & Dairy Research

California's livestock and dairy sectors are foundational to the state's agricultural economy. Both the dairy and beef sectors in California are essential to feeding the nation and world, ranking respectively as number 1 and 4 as top produced California commodities. These industries supply critical sources of protein and nutrition, support rural economies, and represent a major share of the country's agricultural exports.

Why this research matters:

California's dairy and livestock production operations are key to a healthy, secure food system for California, the US, and beyond. However, these sectors also are major contributors to California's methane inventory. California's Senate Bill 1383 calls for a 40% of methane emissions reduction from the livestock and dairy sector from 2013 levels by 2030. This is why OARS invests in cutting-edge research that helps producers reduce methane emissions in safe, practical, and science-driven ways to secure our food production systems while addressing the need to decrease greenhouse gas emissions from the livestock and dairy sectors.

California Dairy & Livestock

• California is the #1 producer of milk, butter, ice cream, and nonfat dry milk in the U.S.
• The state produces over 41.9 billion pounds of milk annually—more than one-fifth of the national total.
• The California dairy market is valued at $8.13 billion, with $3.2 billion in dairy exports in 2022.
• The California livestock industry was valued at $4.98 billion in 2024.
• The state is home to 600,000 beef cows across approximately 11,000 ranches.
• Beef is California's 9th most exported product, with $619 million in exports in 2022.

OARS is helping producers lead the way in reducing methane emissions by funding research that is rooted in science and aligned with on-farm realities. This work aims to come up with strategies to mitigate methane emissions while keeping California's dairy and livestock industries resilient, sustainable, and globally competitive.

Impact

The Office of Agricultural Resiliency and Sustainability has awarded 12 Research grants since 2022.

The research is designed to:

• Assess the GHG reduction efficacy of the AMMP and DDRDP Projects deployed in California,
• Support initiatives set forth by the Manure Recycling and Innovative Products Task Force,
• Develop a research standard to optimize enteric methane reducing research feeding trials,
• Evaluate the efficacy of the most viable enteric methane reducing strategies for use in California's Dairy and Livestock Sectors
• Support the livestock and dairy sectors to meet target goals outlined in California's Senate Bill 1383 to decrease methane emissions from the livestock and dairy sector in California.

Research Funding Opportunities

1. CLIM3ATE-RP Grants: CDFA provided 6 grants of approximately $4.7M through the California Livestock Methane Measurement, Mitigation and Thriving Environments Research Program (CLIM3ATE-RP).
   1. This program provided grant funding for research projects in three areas:
      1. Verification of Methane Reduction Strategies — validating GHG estimates of pre and post AMMP and DDRDP projects, and the evaluation of AMMP practices assessing potential methane reductions
      2. Alternative Methane Reduction Strategies — 3 grants were funded to support enteric methane emissions reduction work through:
         1. Field work assessing seaweed as a potential enteric methane emission reducing feed additive,
         2. Assessing the potential of feeding by-products for enteric methane mitigation (Dr Hess, UCD)
         3. Developing a standard for researchers to design their studies for their enteric methane studies (Dr Kebreab, UCD)
      3. Following the Manure Recycling and Innovative Products (MRIP) Task Force recommendations — a grant with FYTO to use Lemna, commonly known as duckweed, to improve nutrient management from digestate from digesters, both decreasing methane as addressing excessive nitrogen found on-farm.
2. LEMER-RP: Livestock Enteric Methane Emission Reduction Research Program (LEMER-RP) funded demonstration trials evaluating additives and dietary modifications that have the potential to reduce enteric methane emissions in the dairy and livestock sectors
   1. CDFA awarded 6 projects for the 2023 LEMER-RP solicitation, totaling $9.2 million in grant funding to universities across the State and the country.

Funded Research

Final Reports

Final reports are not available at this time. Please check back again soon.