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When it comes to climate change, cows have taken a reputational hit. These belching bovines have been villainized for releasing methane, a greenhouse gas with more than 25 times the heat-trapping power of carbon dioxide.

The Straus Family Creamery, an organic dairy producer in Marin County, California, made headlines last fall after receiving approval from regulatory agencies to conduct a trial of a new seaweed-derived feed additive called Brominata.

If you are eating “animal-free” dairy or meat products that taste nearly identical to a traditional animal product, you should be asking plenty of questions. And more often than not, what you will discover is that these foods are anything but “natural.”

Thousands of dairy farms worldwide have worked to reduce carbon emissions over the last few years, if not for much longer, but only 4 have made a public commitment to being carbon neutral by a given date.

California dairy farms will soon be able to feed their cows seaweed to fight climate change after the state Department of Food and Agriculture approved the use of a seaweed feed shown to reduce methane emissions from cow burps, the first in the U.S. to do so.

Albert Straus, an organic dairy farmer in Marin County, California, made it his intention to look at how he could meet those goals and what it would take on his dairy farm to do just that. He wanted to be progressive, forward-thinking and a part of the solution.

At a Marin dairy farm this summer, cows got a little something extra in their organic hay and alfalfa: a sprinkle of seaweed powder that holds promise for helping the state achieve ambitious climate goals.

In his dungarees and rubber boots, Albert Straus looked every bit the dairy farmer that he is. On this particular morning, however, the 66-year-old founder and CEO of Straus Family Creamery was some 25 miles from his family farm.

In 2021, an increasing number of water providers across California will be forced to prepare for water shortages as the state’s drought intensifies. For some locales, this could mean mandatory or voluntary restrictions on residential water use.

When it comes to the bodies of humans and animals, there are a few functions that we’re usually discouraged from talking about. Specifically, the ones that involve releasing gas. (Yep, burps and farts.)

Beef and dairy production are considered important drivers of climate change, contributing roughly 5% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, mostly in the form of methane released by cattle and other ruminant animals.

What does a small trash bin tucked in the corner of a Straus Family Creamery executive office have to do with climate change?

In one of his first acts in office, President Biden said he wants farmers and ranchers to tell him how to fight climate change. If he wants to hear from agricultural businesses already on the front lines of combating global warming, the Bay Area might be a good place to start.

A new study out of the University of California at Davis shows a dramatic reduction in cattle methane emissions using red seaweed as a feed supplement. It also significantly reduced the cost of feed. The five-month study found that these reductions were sustained with no change in animal health or in the quality of the beef.