2023 Dairy Digester Research and Development Program

The California Department of Food and Agriculture's (CDFA) Dairy Digester Research and Development Program (DDRDP), awards competitive grants to California dairy operations and digester developers for the implementation of dairy digesters that result in long-term methane emission reductions on California dairies and minimize or mitigate adverse environmental impacts.

The Budget Act of 2022 (SB 154, Chapter 43) made $48,000,000 available for Livestock Methane Reduction, with priority given to the Alternative Manure Management Program. NOTE: CDFA will make approximately $11.4 million available for the 2023 DDRDP. The remaining funds from the appropriations will be made available in a subsequent solicitation expected in 2024. Applicants may also be eligible for an additional funding opportunity through the Dairy Plus Program.

Applicants must apply through the AmpliFund portal. Please click the "Log In" button in the upper-right corner of this page to create a new account or log into your AmpliFund account. An applicant may submit multiple grant applications; however, each grant application must represent an individual project at a unique project site (i.e., dairy operation).

CDFA cannot assist in the preparation of grant applications; however, general questions regarding the solicitation process may be submitted to cdfa.oefi_ddrdp_tech@cdfa.ca.gov. CDFA will conduct three rounds of Questions and Answers (Q&A) to address general questions about the application submission process and program requirements. Responses to questions received during the application workshops or by email will be posted to CDFA’s DDRDP website.

• California farmers, ranchers, and California Native American Tribes are eligible to apply. The project site must be located on a commercial California dairy operation. Individuals and/or entities receiving grant award funds must be located in California with a physical California business address. A dairy operation is defined as an entity that operates a dairy herd, which produces milk or cream commercially, and whose bulk milk or bulk cream is received or handled by any distributor, manufacturer, or any nonprofit cooperative association of dairy producers. Existing milk producers, including Federal and California Recognized Native American Indian Tribes, and dairy digester developers are eligible for this program.

Applicant should carefully review the Request for Grant Application and application material provided on the program webpage https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/oefi/ddrdp/