The California Department of Food and Agriculture’s Office of Environmental Farming and Innovation is giving interested parties until mid-September to submit proposals for manure management practices that might be considered in an upcoming calculation tool for two state programs.

CDFA says the practices will be used to determine benefits in the Alternative Manure Management Program as well as the Dairy Digester Research and Development Program. The new practices would be on top of the practices already eligible for funding through the programs, including solid-liquid separation, scrape manure collection and anaerobic manure digestion.

CDFA is also administering the new Dairy Plus Program, which the department says will implement advanced manure management practices that will reduce methane emissions as well as nutrient surplus” based on the benefits calculator tools of AMMP and DDRDP. The program received $85 million in funding through USDA’s Partnerships for Climate Smart Commodities Program.

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“CDFA has heard from stakeholders and dairy farmers about innovative manure management technologies that might fit in these programs and offer more options for dairy and livestock operators to meet California’s ambitious methane reduction goals,” CDFA Secretary Karen Ross said in a release. “CDFA is committed to collaborating with its partners for the continued evolution of these programs.” 

CDFA says the proposed practices “must not only address manure collection and treatment but also outline how the management of volatile solids will ensure a permanent reduction in methane emissions while effectively addressing nutrient surplus in dairy and livestock operations.”

Proposals are due Sept. 11.

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