Athian has launched a groundbreaking voluntary livestock carbon insetting marketplace, featuring the first accepted protocol aimed at reducing enteric methane emissions and improving feed utilization using innovative feed management products from Elanco Animal Health. This unique carbon marketplace allows farmers to monetize their greenhouse gas emission reductions.
Athian offers economic incentives for sustainable farming through carbon credits generation. The Indianapolis-based company monetizes the reductions for the beef and dairy farmers by selling those credits. Its platform benefits the global food system sustainability while reducing planet-warming emissions.
Elanco Animal Health is the world’s third largest animal health company. It specializes in innovating and delivering products and services to prevent and treat disease in farm animals and pets.
Livestock Farming’s Green Revolution: Carbon Insetting
Data indicates that animal agriculture contributes to at least 16% of global GHG emissions, leading to deforestation and biodiversity loss. Within livestock emissions, methane, nitrous oxide (N2O), and carbon dioxide are prominent. Methane and N2O are significantly more potent than CO2 in terms of their warming effect.
Livestock supply chains generate GHGs through various means. These include methane production during the digestive process of animals, feed production, management of manure, and energy consumption.
Athian’s platform is the world’s first carbon credit program for livestock. The initiative involves verifying farms, certifying and selling carbon credits within the dairy value chain. This enables dairy farmers of all sizes to implement sustainability interventions, measure their impact, and undergo 3rd-party verification for GHG emissions reductions.
The resulting carbon credits can then be sold in Athian’s livestock carbon insetting marketplace.
Companies in the dairy value chain, such as consumer-packaged goods companies and food retailers, can purchase these carbon credits to contribute to their Scope 3 emissions reduction goals.
This not only provides economic value to farmers through credit sales but also supports the U.S. dairy industry’s progress towards GHG emission neutrality by 2050.
Early last month, the company announced the first sale of carbon credits to Dairy Farmers of America (DFA), the biggest milk marketing cooperative in the U.S.
If the entire U.S. dairy industry adopted this intervention, it could potentially prevent 4.7 million metric tons of carbon emissions annually from enteric, feed, and manure emissions. This underscores the significant contribution that animal agriculture can make toward climate mitigation efforts.
Athian’s Carbon Marketplace Provides Sustainable Solutions
In the long term, the marketplace aims to expand to include other livestock and poultry sectors. Paul Myer, CEO of Athian, emphasizes the uniqueness of their marketplace, being distinct from traditional carbon offsetting platforms as it retains economic and environmental value within the animal protein value chain. He further added that:
“Athian’s first carbon credits for dairy are an exciting and crucial step as they demonstrate the ability to tangibly quantify and verify greenhouse gas emissions reductions and create monetary value for farmers for their efforts.”
While carbon markets are widely known among farmers, only 3% are currently participating, according to a recent USDA survey. Athian’s inset market model, developed in collaboration with recognized supply chain partners, aims to simplify measurement and verification processes, breaking down barriers to entry and expediting progress.
Jeff Simmons, President and CEO of Elanco Animal Health, expressed excitement about Athian’s milestones. He highlighted the potential for farmers to achieve climate-neutral farming and create new value.
Elanco’s focus on delivering enteric methane reduction solutions could significantly impact emissions across the U.S. dairy industry.
Elanco’s UpLook™ tool, designed to measure and monitor GHG emissions using on-farm data and peer-reviewed science, complements Athian’s verification system. This integration helps farmers quantify reduction efforts and certify carbon credits for sale, further incentivizing sustainability practices.
Transforming the Food Chain
Food companies and retailers have publicly committed to collectively reducing over 100 million metric tons of GHG emissions by 2030. Despite progress in corporate goal-setting, reducing Scope 3 emissions, primarily from raw material production like milk, remains a significant challenge.
Athian’s introduction of the insetting livestock carbon credit marketplace offers companies in the animal protein value chain a tangible opportunity to advance their Scope 3 emission reduction objectives.
Enteric methane reduction carbon credits are currently available for purchase through Athian’s insetting carbon marketplace.
Athian’s innovative livestock carbon insetting marketplace, in collaboration with Elanco Animal Health, marks a significant milestone in the agricultural sector’s journey towards sustainability. By monetizing greenhouse gas emissions reductions and incentivizing sustainable practices, the platform not only