Engage Stakeholders on Dairy Methane Action  

To develop an effective dairy methane stakeholder engagement strategy, companies should focus on addressing three critical aspects of methane action:  

1. Farmer and Supplier Engagement to promote collaboration, knowledge sharing, and adoption of best practices. 
2. Innovation to invest in research and advance new and emerging technological solutions. 
3. Public Policy and Advocacy to shape and support industry-wide methane reduction initiatives. 

The following sections explore each of these focus areas in greater detail. 

Farmer and Supplier Engagement

Since most dairy methane emissions occur at the farm level from enteric fermentation and manure management, engaging dairy farmers is critical to companies achieving their methane reduction goals.  

While some dairy-sourcing companies may engage directly with farmers, many leverage sourcing relationships with dairy cooperatives (co-ops)—that manage pooled milk supplies—to reach farmers at scale. Co-ops serve as centralized hubs for farmer engagement, often providing services like price negotiation, technical support, and financial incentives, and can play a key role in driving the adoption of methane mitigation solutions. Partnering with co-ops can also help ensure equitable access to incentives and accelerate the development of methane-reducing technologies. 

Dairy-sourcing companies can also advance farm-level methane action by partnering with other milk buyers or customers, like retailers and restaurants. Such partnerships create co-funding opportunities for methane reduction projects, which can distribute the financial burden across the value chain and allow downstream stakeholders to account for GHG reductions. Additionally, NGOs and project developers can assist with project implementation and validation, ensuring transparency and effectiveness.  

Strong collaboration across the entire value chain is vital to scaling methane reduction efforts, achieving cost efficiencies, and maximizing environmental impact. Below, we dive deeper into how dairy-sourcing companies can engage with farmers and upstream suppliers:  

Modes of Farm-Level Engagement  

1. Capacity Building & Technical Support
   • Bring technical advisors to dairy farms to provide direct support, knowledge, and tools to help execute methane-reducing projects. 
   • Build technical advisor capacity on methane-mitigating practices through train-the trainer programs.  
   • Provide farmers access to training programs and open-source courses via company-developed online platforms or through existing academic institutions, government agencies, or other trusted organizations. 
   • Increase farmer awareness of government and other sources of funding. Examples in the EU include innovation funding through the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) Network and EIT Food, and in the U.S., Farm Bill conservation funding via the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP). 
   • Invite farmers to pilot practices and technologies to understand the viability and effectiveness of methane interventions while strengthening company-farmer relationships. 
   • Host open days at demonstration farms to engage farmer networks, share lessons learned, and spread information about mitigation practice(s). 
   • Collaborate with value chain partners to provide large-scale training for shared suppliers. 
2. Financial incentives: 
   • Support upstream dairy farmers with loans or grants to reduce costs and invest in methane reduction projects. Financial support can cover expenses like equipment, feed, and supplies and may include partnering with the financial sector, offering lower borrowing rates, covering administrative costs, providing grants for products and services, or requiring climate action plans for eligibility. Companies may also help suppliers access funding from non-profits, NGOs, and governments. 
   • Offer suppliers price supports, incentives, and premiums to reduce risk when adopting new practices. These may include free training, pay-for-performance rewards, support for testing new techniques, and guaranteed future contracts for implementing methane-reducing practices. Bundling financial incentives with training can help ease adoption and scale impact.  
3. Networking & Data Gathering:  
   • Provide online portals and platforms that can facilitate information exchange and dissemination to farmers, data logging, return on investment calculation, real-time data sharing with customer companies, and the measuring, monitoring, reporting, and verification (MMRV) of climate mitigation efforts.  
   • Enable peer-to-peer learning and networking opportunities (in-person and virtual) that can help farmers collaborate to solve problems and learn from program successes and challenges, creating a more social and collaborative aspect of methane mitigation work.  
   • Partner with peers and downstream customers to enhance and streamline data collection  
   • to gain better visibility into shared supply chains. Sharing data collection across the value chain can also ease the burden on suppliers, thereby improving data quality, emissions accuracy, and overall supplier engagement. 

Innovation

Alongside a farm-level engagement strategy, companies aiming to reduce methane emissions should pursue innovation both externally and internally. Innovation partnerships around innovation can help to pilot and scale existing and emerging solutions. 

External initiatives include supporting, adopting, developing, and monitoring existing and next-generation methane-abating technologies.  

Companies have opportunities throughout the R&D process to support methane-reducing solution development. For example, companies can implement pilot projects to trial new solutions, develop strategic partnerships focused on technological advancement, or join methane-abatement research groups that help fund novel methane research and bring together like-minded stakeholders. Examples of such groups are listed below in Figure 1.  

Additionally, dairy-sourcing companies may explore direct investments in or partnerships with private companies developing methane reduction technologies to scale innovation. Such collaborations can support the advancement of existing solutions, increase their availability, and reduce development costs for new technologies. 

Internal initiatives include adopting business solutions, policies, practices, partnerships, and products that prioritize methane reduction. 

Practices such as developing an internal price on carbon, deploying on-farm data collection systems, buying and selling credits for environmental performance, and collaborating on financing mechanisms that prioritize sustainability outcomes are all innovative solutions to help make the business case for and scale methane mitigation.  

Extending dairy product shelf life via ultra-pasteurization and shelf-stable products can help reduce food waste, cut spoilage, lower milk production to meet consumer demand, and minimize landfill emissions. Collaboration on labeling and sell-by-date policies can enhance waste reduction and methane mitigation efforts. 

Dairy-focused companies can also explore reducing their GHG footprint by reformulating products and diversifying portfolios to align with evolving consumer preferences. Reimagining milk use through innovative products, such as blended dairy or combining dairy and plant-based ingredients, can lower emissions while maintaining nutrition and taste. R&D teams play a key role in ensuring these products remain palatable, marketable, and sustainable.  

Figure 1. Examples of Dairy Methane Mitigation Stakeholder Groups

Public Policy Advocacy  

Corporate engagement on climate policy is crucial for building capacity for and the feasibility of internal methane reduction strategies while advancing broader global climate goals. In crafting a methane reduction public policy approach, dairy-sourcing companies should focus on the AAA Framework for Climate Policy Leadership:  

1. Actively Advocating for legislation and policy reforms,  
2. Strategically Aligning with influential industry trade groups, and  
3. Thoughtfully Allocating resources toward advocacy efforts.  

The following table provides a comprehensive checklist for meaningful action: 

Collective Action and Impact 

To effectively address methane emissions, food and dairy-sourcing companies must look both within and beyond their own operations and supply chains. They should consider collaborating with peers and other key stakeholders focused on methane reduction to scale impact and action.  

Reducing methane emissions presents a valuable opportunity for dairy-sourcing companies to enhance sustainability and resilience. Companies can amplify impact and drive meaningful progress by collaborating across and beyond the dairy value chain. Embracing innovation and co-developing forward-thinking programs will not only help future-proof their operations but also create lasting benefits for their products, the dairy industry, and the environment.