DAIRY FARMERS OF AMERICA SECURES UP TO $45 MILLION IN USDA GRANT FUNDING FOR LOW-CARBON DAIRY PILOT PROJECT

Grant Will Allow DFA to Reduce On-Farm Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Carbon Sequestration on U.S. Dairy Farms

KANSAS CITY, Kan., Sept. 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Dairy Farmers of America (DFA), a national dairy cooperative with more than 11,500 family farmers, has been selected to receive up to $45 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to scale methane emissions reductions and increase soil carbon sequestration on U.S. dairy farms as well as develop and market climate-smart, low-carbon dairy products.

The grant was one of 70 announced on September 14, 2022, through the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Partnership for Climate Smart Commodities program, which awarded $2.8 billion in funding to pilot projects that will help build and expand opportunities for consumers to purchase food grown or produced in a climate-friendly way.

"We're thrilled to receive a Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities grant from USDA and appreciate their support for accelerating adoption of innovative, sustainable agricultural practices on our member farms as well as developing and marketing low-carbon dairy products to meet growing consumer demand," says Kevin O'Donnell, senior vice president of sustainability at Dairy Farmers of America (DFA). "Given eco-efficiency gains and other leadership to date, we know that dairy is part of the solution to climate change. These funds will allow DFA to build on this foundation, using our Cooperative business model to ensure benefits are captured at our member farms. This will allow us an opportunity to establish a more circular economy where we can increase crop resilience in dairy production, innovate more widespread climate and related product solutions faster, and better position us to continue providing sustainable nutrition to families around the world."

Partners joining DFA in this project include Dairy One Cooperative, Inc., MyFarm, LLC, Dairy Nutrition Management and Consulting, LLC, Nestlé, Mars, Unilever, Barry Callebaut, Dairy Management Inc., U.S. Dairy Export Council, National Milk Producers Federation, Global Dairy Platform, Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy, CoBank and AGPROfessionals.

For more information about Dairy Farmers of America and our sustainability efforts, visit here. To learn more about this effort usda.gov/climate-smart-commodities and visit usda.gov/climate-solutions for climate-related updates, resources and tools across the Department.

About Dairy Farmers of America 
Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) is a national, farmer-owned dairy cooperative focusing on quality, innovation and the future of family dairies. While supporting and serving more than 11,500 family farm-owners, DFA manufactures nearly every form, function and flavor of nutritional dairy products, including fluid milk, cheese, butter, ice cream, dairy ingredients and more that connect our Cooperative's family farms to family tables with regional brands such as Alta Dena® Dairy, Meadow Gold® Dairy, Friendly®'s, Borden® Cheese, Plugrá® Premium Butter and Kemps® to name a few. On a global scale, we work with some of the world's leading food companies to develop ingredients that deliver the greatest source of nutrition to consumers around the world, while staying committed to social responsibility and ethical farming. For more information, please visit dfamilk.com.

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SOURCE Dairy Farmers of America