California Climate and Agriculture Network (CalCAN)
The California Climate and Agriculture Network (CalCAN) advances state and federal policy to catalyze the powerful climate solutions offered by sustainable and organic agriculture. We use policy to move California agriculture towards a system that is increasingly resilient and just.
Funding purpose: CalCAN is a farmer-focused voice on climate policy, advocating for policies and programs that deliver farmer resources to catalyze a transition to a climate-resilient agriculture system. Agriculture emits three greenhouse gases (GHGs): carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane. CalCAN’s campaigns are designed to drive down the sources of all three GHGs while also improving on-farm profitability and resilience, and reduce environmental harms to people and ecosystems.
Learn more:
2025-26: Focus on Methane Emissions
The problem:
Methane is a potent greenhouse gas, trapping 80 times more heat than carbon dioxide. California agriculture contributes about 60% of the state’s methane emissions, half of which comes from livestock manure management. The state of California has a target for methane emissions reductions, but we are only about halfway there.
CalCAN’s approach to methane reduction:
CalCAN championed a bill in 2017 which created California’s Alternative Manure Management Program (AMMP). AMMP funds equipment to produce compost from dairy manure rather than stockpiling it in methane-emitting lagoons and applying liquid manure to crops, which can lead to groundwater pollution. The program is popular among dairy producers, but consistently unfunded.
In addition to reducing potent GHG emissions, the many co-benefits of this program include:
- Lower water and fertilizer costs for small and medium-sized dairy producers struggling to stay in business;
- Increased compost supply for soil health improvements;
- Cleaner air and water;
- Improved conditions for farm workers and livestock.
In 2025, CalCAN produced a report demonstrating that sustained AMMP funding over the next five years could reach half of the state’s dairy herd and achieve an estimated reduction of 1.9 million metric tons of CO2e. This is equivalent to 4.84 million vehicle miles driven or 255,164 homes’ energy use for one year. Read the report here.
CalCAN is also leading a campaign to replicate California’s AMMP program at the federal level (read more here).
Photo (credit USDA NRCS)
