Industrial Livestock

Headwinds for factory farm biogas open doors for better alternatives

In April, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced it would stop providing loan guarantees for methane biodigester projects on large animal operations for the rest of 2026. While the USDA’s concerns were financial, given the questionable climate benefits and other environmental concerns, pausing loans for biodigesters is a step in the right direction.

IATP Europe gives feedback on the EU Livestock Strategy

In April, IATP Europe submitted feedback on the European Union's upcoming Livestock Strategy, outlining the changes needed to support Europe's farmers, farm workers, and rural communities in a fair, just transition to climate neutrality.

Innovation meets system reform: why methane tech fixes won’t deliver on their own

As limited climate gains from technical methane interventions are outpaced by growth in livestock production and associated emissions, we need to reframe technical interventions as complementary tools, not substitutes, for systemic reform.

IATP comments on the proposed West River Dairy Expansion

The West River Dairy, owned by Riverview Dairy LLP, is proposing to more than double its size to 18,885 cattle. If approved, the expansion would make it the largest dairy in the state by far. The site in western Minnesota is located within the Pomme de Terre River Watershed.

Companies preparing for climate disclosure laws are voluntarily disclosing more — but stragglers remain

An update to our Meat and Dairy Emissions Dashboard finds more companies are disclosing more about their climate risk and emissions as new mandatory global reporting requirements go into effect. 

Flying Under the Radar: Gaps in satellite detection of factory farm methane emissions

In recent years, researchers have begun using satellite imaging to detect methane plumes from factory farms — but the picture is still incomplete. We found that, of the 15,726 total cattle and hog AFOs identified in the U.S., 1,222 aren’t captured by satellite technology, concealing operations that are emitting plumes of methane and harming efforts to effectively measure and address livestock methane emissions.

Global action on cutting methane pollution is falling short: Why this matters for agriculture

Major meat and dairy companies fall short in reporting their climate emissions

With COP30 underway in Belém, Brazil, global attention is turned toward national climate action. Few sectors of the economy sit more squarely at the crossroads of vulnerability and responsibility than agriculture. IATP has produced a new Meat and Dairy Climate Reporting Scorecard that utilizes growing regulatory pressure from climate-related disclosure rules as the backdrop to analyze the climate reporting of 14 major meat and dairy companies.

Feeding Climate Change: A scoring of major meat and dairy companies’ climate-related risk and emissions reporting

In this report, IATP introduces the Meat and Dairy Climate Reporting Scorecard, which confirms that the world’s major meat and dairy companies are falling short on transparent and reliable reporting of their climate risk and GHG emissions — a prerequisite for credible climate action — despite growing investor and regulatory pressure.

Big meat and dairy companies rival major oil companies as sources of climate pollution

In 2018, IATP worked with GRAIN to analyze some of the biggest meat and dairy company’s climate pollution for the first time. Collecting emission and production data from the companies was a challenge, with many not reporting emissions at all, and others not reporting on their full supply chain.