Dairy farmers will be able to monetize greenhouse gas reductions from their operations through a new marketplace announced Thursday.
Athian, formed last year with funding from, and in partnership, with Elanco, said in a joint press release with the animal health company that it “is verifying its first farms and creating, certifying and selling carbon credits within the dairy value chain.”
The marketplace has been made possible “with the first accepted protocol aimed at reducing enteric methane emissions and improving feed utilization by using innovative feed management products from Elanco Animal Health.”
In April 2022, Elanco received U.S. rights to commercialize Bovaer, a feed additive developed by Dutch firm Royal DSM that can significantly reduce methane emissions from dairy and beef cattle. The Food and Drug Administration has yet to approve the product.
“Dairy farmers of all sizes now have the opportunity to implement on-farm sustainability interventions, measure the impact and participate in third-party verification for their greenhouse gas emissions reductions,” the companies said. The resulting carbon credits can then be offered for sale in Athian’s “first-of-its-kind voluntary livestock carbon insetting marketplace.”
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Companies in the dairy value chain, including packaged goods operations and food retailers, "can then purchase those carbon credits as contributions towards achieving their Scope 3 emissions reduction goals,” the release said.
"Over the long term, this marketplace will expand to other livestock and poultry," the companies said.
The U.S. dairy industry has committed to achieving GHG neutrality by 2050.
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