Karl Czymmek has a strong background in production agriculture and training in agronomy and law. He served the NY dairy industry for over 20 years as PRO-DAIRY’s nutrient management specialist, where he focused on nutrient management, environmental sustainability, and regulatory issues of importance to the NY dairy industry.
In 2021 Czymmek became Vice President- Field Research and Agronomy with the Environmental Research team at Dairy Management Inc., and in 2022 joined Land O’Lakes subsidiary Truterra as part of the Dairy and Livestock Services team. Both positions involved efforts to support the U.S. dairy industry toward meeting environmental stewardship goals established by the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy, including the net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050 commitment.
In 2024, Czymmek returned to Cornell for a newly created position, Dairy Climate Leadership Specialist, and also as Associate Director of PRO-DAIRY. Efforts as a Dairy Climate Leadership specialist include 1) working with scientific experts across the core dairy GHG “footprints” of enteric, manure and feed production to develop sound practices to reduce emissions while improving economic sustainability through productivity gains, new revenue streams and carbon markets; and 2) communication with and training for dairy producers, industry advisors, scientists, governmental and regulatory agency staff on opportunities to reduce GHG emissions and increase carbon sequestration.
