CEOs speaking at Reuters Transform Food Today Announce the First-of-its-Kind Livestock Carbon Inset Market has First Carbon Credits Verified for sale
GREENFIELD AND INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. [November 2, 2023] – Athian (athian.ai) announced
today the establishment of the first-of-its-kind voluntary livestock carbon insetting marketplace,
with the first accepted protocol aimed at reducing enteric methane emissions and improving
feed utilization by using innovative feed management products from Elanco Animal Health
(NYSE: ELAN). This new carbon marketplace creates an opportunity for farmers to monetize
their greenhouse gas emission reductions.
Athian is verifying its first farms and creating, certifying and selling carbon credits within the
dairy value chain. This means:
• Dairy farmers of all sizes now have the opportunity to implement on-farm sustainability
interventions, measure the impact and participate in third-party verification for their
greenhouse gas emissions reductions. The resulting carbon credits can be offered for
sale in Athian’s livestock carbon insetting marketplace.
• Companies in the dairy value chain (such as consumer-packaged goods companies and
food retailers) can then purchase those carbon credits as contributions towards
achieving their Scope 3 emissions reduction goals.
• With the purchase of these credits, economic value is returned to the farmer via the sale
while supporting the U.S. dairy industry progress towards their own environmental
commitments of greenhouse gas neutrality by 2050.i
• Over the long term, this marketplace will expand to other livestock & poultry.
“Athian’s first carbon credits for dairy are an exciting and crucial step as they demonstrate the
ability to tangibly quantify and verify greenhouse gas emissions reductions and create monetary
value for farmers for their efforts,” said Paul Myer, CEO of Athian. “This marketplace,
specifically designed for the animal protein industry, is different than traditional offsetting carbon
marketplaces because it keeps the value—economic value as well as positive environmental
value—in the animal protein value chain.”
Empowering Farmers with Economic Opportunities
Despite widespread awareness of carbon markets by farmers, only 3% of farmers are
participating in these markets today, according to a recent survey cited by the U.S. Department
of Agriculture (USDA).ii Creating an inset market model that works with recognized supply chain
partners makes it easier for farmers to measure and implement rigorous verifications, will help
break these barriers to entry and accelerate progress.
“As a co-creator and seed investor in Athian, we’re excited to see the company reach the
milestones that will bring new value to farmers and help them advance toward climate-neutral
farming,” said Jeff Simmons, President and CEO of Elanco Animal Health. “As a leader in
animal health, we’ve focused first on delivering enteric methane reduction solutions to
producers. If the entire U.S. dairy industry leveraged this intervention, it would avoid 4.7 million
metric tons of CO2e emissions annually from enteric, feed and manure emissions. This is a
game changer for value creation throughout the food chain, and it’s just the start. Environmental
sustainability needs to be grounded in farmer profitability.”
Elanco also developed Up Look™, an insights-based engine designed to measure and monitor
greenhouse gas emissions. The tool utilizes on-farm data and peer-reviewed science to identify
key drivers of an operation’s carbon footprint and track the progress of their sustainability
efforts. Up Look connects seamlessly to Athian’s cloud-based verification system to help farmers
quantify their reduction efforts and certify carbon credits for sale.
Enabling The Value Chain to Achieve Sustainability Goals
Food companies and retailers have made public commitments to collectively reduce more than
100 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. Despite the progress in corporate
target-setting, the reduction of Scope 3 emissions, which typically come from the production of
raw materials like milk, has been a significant challenge. The creation of Athian’s insetting
livestock carbon credit marketplace provides companies in the animal protein value chain the
opportunity to make meaningful progress toward their Scope 3 greenhouse gas reduction goals.
Athian and Elanco are participating in the Reuters Transform Food USA 2023 event on
Thursday, November 2, 2023, to speak more about this transformation.
Enteric methane reduction carbon credits are now available for purchase through Athian’s
insetting carbon marketplace. Visit www.athian.ai to learn more and connect directly with Athian.
Additional Resources:
https://www.athian.ai/knowledge-hub
ABOUT ELANCO
Elanco Animal Health Incorporated (NYSE: ELAN) is a global leader in animal health dedicated
to innovating and delivering products and services to prevent and treat disease in farm animals
and pets, creating value for farmers, pet owners, veterinarians, stakeholders and society as a
whole. With nearly 70 years of animal health heritage, we are committed to helping our
customers improve the health of animals in their care, while also making a meaningful impact on
our local and global communities. At Elanco, we are driven by our vision of Food and
Companionship Enriching Life and our Elanco Healthy Purpose– all to advance the health of
animals, people, the planet and our enterprise.
About Athian
Athian’s key mission is to help the beef and dairy value chains capture and claim carbon credits
generated through on-farm sustainability efforts by aggregating, verifying, and certifying
greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions, and monetizing those reductions for the producer through
the sale of carbon insetting credits.
(i) https://www.usdairy.com/sustainability/environmental-sustainability
(ii) USDA Releases Assessment on Agriculture and Forestry in Carbon Markets | USDA
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Investor Contact: Katy Grissom (317) 273-9248 kathryn.grissom@elancoah.com
Media Contact: Season Solorio (765) 316-0233 season.solorio@elancoah.com
Athian Media Contact: Corey Scott (651) 262-3545 corey@athian.ai
