Dairy Coordinated Agricultural Project

Overview

The Sustainable Dairy Project is one of several United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) – National Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA), Coordinated Agricultural Projects (CAP). As described by the USDA, CAP awards support large-scale multimillion dollar projects in order to promote collaboration, open communication, and the exchange of information; reduce duplication of effort; and coordinate activities among individuals, institutions, states, and regions.

In this project, team participants are conducting targeted research, education, and extension in the area of climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts in dairy production systems of the Great Lakes region. Project leads are based at the University of Wisconsin-Madison with collaborators at several other institutions, primarily The Pennsylvania State University and Cornell University.

Objectives

  • Identify opportunities to increase the resiliency of dairy production systems in response to climate change
  • Reduce the life cycle environmental impact from dairy productions systems, particularly greenhouse gas emission
  • Develop decision support tools for management practices that producers will implement at the farm level  to mitigate and adapt to climate change
  • Educate farmers, agricultural industry, policy makers, teachers, students, and the general public on sustainable management practices for dairy production systems

To learn more, visit the Dairy CAP Website.