Dairy Farmer Options to Earn from Sustainability Practices Increasing

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. [July 21, 2025] – Thanks to a new partnership, dairy producers will soon have additional options for achieving and marketing verified greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions from on-farm sustainability practices. California Dairies, Inc., National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) and Athian announced today they have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to develop a “carbon intensity” protocol supported by the FARM Environmental Stewardship (ES) program, which seeks to define, quantify and verify how production efficiencies and new practice adoption contribute to positive environmental outcomes.

“Facilitating supply chain partnerships is an important part of our mission,” said Kendra Tolley, chief product officer for Athian. “So, this MOU is a perfect demonstration of how our technology works to unite common interests around delivering new revenue opportunities for farmers and Scope 3 solutions for food companies.”

Athian is a technology company, founded in 2022, to connect food company buyers looking to source Scope 3 reductions with sustainability minded farmers in their supply chain. They have committed through this MOU to work with their Scientific Advisory Board and accredited third party auditors to define, verify and monetize the on-farm practices that will be part of the protocol and then identify buyers for the resulting outcomes (i.e. insets) they generate.

“This partnership supports dairy farmers interested in carbon claim opportunities by creating a streamlined process,” says Nicole Ayache, chief sustainability officer for National Milk Producers Federation, which administers the National Dairy FARM Program. “Farms who engage in a protocol that aligns with FARM ES methodology can use data already collected by its evaluation tool to pursue efficiencies benefiting the environment and their business.”

As part of the MOU, FARM will contribute advice on quantification methodology as well as data collection and calculation support so farmers who are interested in generating carbon claims can receive additional value from the data they collect for FARM ES evaluations.

California Dairies, Inc., as the largest member-owned milk marketing and processing cooperative in the state, will contribute to the MOU by supporting the development and implementation of this new protocol for the benefit of its farmer members.

“CDI is guided by a promise to move as fast as technology and farmer economics allow,” said Darrin Monteiro, SVP, sustainability and member relations at CDI. “This MOU supports our promise, and we believe will play a pivotal role into the future of dairy sustainability.”

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About Athian

Athian was founded in 2022 to help the livestock value chain capture and claim greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions by aggregating, verifying and certifying them, and then monetizing those reductions for farmers through the sale of the resulting insets. Athian’s platform is a secure software tool that simplifies data entry, upload, measurement and verification at scale, resulting in high-quality and credible GHG emission reductions that help satisfy Scope 3 goals and fund livestock producer sustainability measures. Athian provides a way for leading food brands to not only invest in climate and sustainability initiatives but also to mitigate enterprise risk by supporting the financial and environmental resilience of the farms in their supply chains. Athian is an Alloy Partners company based in Indianapolis, Ind. Learn more at www.athian.ag.

About the FARM Program

Launched in 2009, the Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) Program was created by the National Milk Producers Federation in partnership with Dairy Management, Inc. and is open to all U.S. dairy farmers, milk processors and cooperatives. The program helps ensure the success of the entire dairy industry by demonstrating U.S. dairy farmers are committed to producing high-quality, safe milk with integrity. The FARM Environmental Stewardship (ES) Program, started in 2017, is a farm-level environmental assessment and customer assurance program that provides tools and resources for farmers to measure and improve their footprint. FARM ES leverages the Ruminant Farm Systems (RuFaS) model, a cutting-edge, whole-farm model simulating dairy farm production and environmental impact. Learn more at www.nationaldairyfarm.com.  

About California Dairies, Inc.

California Dairies, Inc. is the largest member-owned milk marketing and processing cooperative in California, producing 40 percent of California’s milk. Co-owned by nearly 300 dairy producers who ship 17 billion pounds of Real California Milk annually, California Dairies, Inc. is a manufacturer of quality butter, fluid milk products, and milk powders. In addition, California Dairies, Inc. is the home of two leading and well-respected brands of butter – Challenge and Danish Creamery and milk powder brand, DairyAmerica. California Dairies’ quality dairy products are available in all 50 United States and in more than 50 foreign countries. For additional information on California Dairies, Inc., visit www.californiadairies.com.