Ben & Jerry’s Launches Project Mootopia — To Cut Dairy Farm GHG Emissions To Half Of Industry Average

Ben & Jerry’s has launched a new initiative called Project Mootopia to bring down greenhouse gas emissions on 15 dairy farms to half the industry average by 2024.

“This approach to dairy farming could be a game-changer,” said Jenna Evans, global sustainability manager for Ben & Jerry’s. “It has the potential to make a meaningful reduction in emissions on dairy farms and help fight the worst effects of climate change. All of us, especially businesses, must take action before it’s too late and the climate crisis makes our world uninhabitable.”

Once the initiative is proven successful, it will be expanded to farms across Ben & Jerry’s global dairy supply chain. According to the company, dairy ingredients currently account for more than 50% of Ben & Jerry’s total greenhouse gas emissions.

The pilot program will use regenerative agricultural practices and new technology to address:

• Enteric emissions-managing methane-producing cow burps through a high-quality forage diet and innovative rumen modifiers.
• Manure-managed through methane reduction technology such as digesters and separators, which reduce the need for commercial fertilizer.
• Feed crops- using regenerative practices to grow more grass and other feed crops to maintain healthy soils, increase carbon sequestration, improve grassland use, lower synthetic inputs, promote biodiversity and raise the percentage of homegrown feed.

Additionally, Project Mootopia will also promote renewable energy on dairy farms and further one of Ben & Jerry’s many missions, to meet high animal welfare standards.

To launch, prove, and scale-out regenerative practices on dairy farms, Ben & Jerry’s has received $9.3 million from the Climate and Nature Fund of its parent corporation, Unilever.

Originally published at https://retailbum.com on May 10, 2022.