Climate & Environment
Climate and weather are an important management concern for animal agriculture. The intent of this web page is to assist those involved in animal agriculture to prepare and respond to current weather and the potential for a changing climate.
Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are increasingly important due to their tie to climate change. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and many other agencies have performed research to quantify where most emissions come from and where we can reduce them.
Leading scientists throughout the U.S., as well as the EPA, have quantified the impacts of livestock production in the U.S., which accounts for 4.2 percent of all GHG emissions.
Greenhouse gas from dairy research
- Greenhouse Gas from Dairy Manure Management at the Farmstead (2022)
- The Carbon Footprint of Dairy Production Systems Through Partial Life Cycle Ass…
- Sources of Greenhouse Gases in Agriculture
- Dairy Environmental Systems and Climate Adaptations Conference Proceedings (201…
- Greenhouse Gas Emissions From a Community Anaerobic Digester with Mixed Organic…
- Greenhouse Gas Emission Reductions Due to Anaerobic Digestion of Dairy Manure (…

Additional PRO-DAIRY Resources
Odor & Air Quality
Odor and Emissions from dairy operations are an environmental and societal concern. While addressing odor is a neighbor relations concern, emissions such as ammonia and hydrogen sulfide are potential health, air quality, and regulatory concerns. Odor and emissions can come from three primary source locations on a dairy farm: animal facilities, manure storages, and land application of manure.
Dairy Manure Odor Perception and Management series (2020)
- Part 1: Manure odor basics
- Part 2: The human sense of smell
- Part 3: How are manure odors quantified?
- Part 4: Mitigation options for manure-based odor control
- Part 5: Employing anaerobic digestion for manure-based odor control
- Part 6: Mitigation options for manure application
- Part 7: Farm-based odors and neighbor relations
Biofilters for Point-Source Gaseous Emissions from Dairies (2016)
Additional odor management resources
- Meeting New York State's Energy, Environmental and Economic Goals While Strengthening Dairy Farms Through the Widespread Adoption of Manure-Based Anaerobic Digestion Technology Working Paper (2017)
- Cost-effective and Environmentally Beneficial Dairy Manure Management Practices (2005)
- Comparing Odor Control Treatment Methods on North East Dairy Farms (2001)
- Preparing an Odor Management Plan (2001)
- Odor and Air Emissions from Animal Production Systems (2001)
- Odor control from Livestock Waste Handling Systems (1993)
Managing leachate
Environmental health
Antibiotics are chemicals that kill or impede bacterial growth. Parallel to their use and importance for human health, antibiotics are important medicines used on dairy farms to prevent and treat bovine bacterial infections. When antibiotics are administered to dairy cattle, milk and meat withholding times are strictly followed to prevent antibiotic residues from entering the food system.
Antibiotic Resistance (AR) is a naturally occurring process where previously susceptible bacteria develop the ability to resist the effects of an antibiotic. The use of both human and veterinary antibiotics has accelerated antibiotic-resistant bacteria development.
Information found on this page was developed under USDA funding that supports work to investigate and report on the efficacy of dairy manure treatment systems to mitigate antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
- An Overview - Jason Oliver and Curt Gooch (2016)
- Frequently Asked Questions - Jason Oliver and Curt Gooch (2017)
- Part 1: Critically important antimicrobials labeled for dairy use - Jason Oliver and Curt Gooch (2017)
- Part 2: Sampling dairy manure for antibiotic detection - Jason Oliver and Curt Gooch (2017)
- Part 3: Laboratory methods for extracting antibiotic residues in dairy manure - Jason Oliver and Curt Gooch (2017)
- Part 4: Laboratory methods for analyzing antibiotic residues extracted from dairy manure - Jason Oliver and Curt Gooch (2017)
- Part 5: What is known about antibiotic residues in dairy manure? - Jason Oliver and Curt Gooch (2017)
- Antibiotic residuals and solid-liquid separation of dairy manure - Peter Wright and Curt Gooch (2020)
- Antibiotic residuals and composting of dairy manure - Lauren Ray and Curt Gooch (2020)
- Antibiotic residuals and anaerobic digestion of dairy manure - Lauren Ray and Curt Gooch (2020)
- Fate of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in dairy manure treated by anaerobic digestion and composting - Lauren Ray and Curt Gooch (2020)
- Fate of antibiotic resistance genes in dairy manure treated by anaerobic digestion and composting - Lauren Ray and Curt Gooch (2020)
- Impact on Antibiotic Resistance by a Solid-Liquid Separator - Rotary Drum Composter Manure Treatment System on a New York State Dairy Farm - Lauren Ray and Curt Gooch (2020)
- Antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB)
- Part 2A - Prevalence of ARB in dairy manure - Jason Oliver and Curt Gooch (2018)
- Part 2B - Measuring ARB in dairy manure - Jason Oliver and Curt Gooch (2018)
- Antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs)
- Part 3A - ARG's Prevalence in dairy manure - Jason Oliver and Curt Gooch (2018)
- Part 3B - Measuring ARG's in dairy manure - Jason Oliver and Curt Gooch (2018)