Report released from the 2025 State of the Science Summit: Reducing Methane from Animal Agriculture

The report on the 2025 State of the Science Summit: Reducing Methane from Animal Agriculture, has just been released, capturing key insights, research advances and collaborative discussions from the summit which was held May 19–21, 2025 at the University of California, Davis. 

Read the Report

For the third time in as many years, many of the world’s most notable researchers, policymakers, nongovernmental leaders, farmers and more gathered in Davis, California, to talk about an issue — and indeed, an opportunity — that’s larger than life. 

The focus from May 19 to 21 was to continue the discussion of how to lessen animal agriculture’s impact on global warming by presenting the latest research and best practices from parts near and far.

Read the report from the event hosted by the UC Davis CLEAR Center, Spark Climate Solutions, the California Department of Food and Agriculture and the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

The report offers a detailed look at the third annual State of the Science Summit, which was the largest one yet—more than 300 attendees from 15 countries came to the three-day event. The summit brought together leading researchers, policymakers, producers and nongovernmental organizations from around the world to examine practical, science-based strategies for reducing methane emissions from livestock. 

“It’s incredibly encouraging to see how the summit has grown and how quickly this field is evolving,” said Charles Brooke, program lead for Livestock Enteric Methane Mitigation at Spark Climate Solutions. “We’re bringing everyone to the table—scientists, ranchers, governments—and we are in a strong position to make meaningful progress in reducing methane emissions and supporting the sustainability of animal agriculture.”

Organized by the UC Davis CLEAR Center, Spark Climate Solutions, the California Department of Food and Agriculture and the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, the summit focused on solutions to one of agriculture’s most significant climate opportunities. Methane is a short-lived but powerful greenhouse gas and reducing its emissions in animal agriculture offers one of the fastest and most effective ways to slow near-term climate change. 

The newly released report highlights progress made since the inaugural summit in 2023, including the approval of methane-reducing feed additives such as 3-NOP for lactating dairy cows in the United States, advances in genetic selection, emerging vaccine research, improved monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) systems, and growing public–private collaboration. It also documents ongoing challenges related to regulation, financing and adoption, emphasizing that there is no “silver bullet” and no single solution will achieve meaningful reductions. 

Speakers and contributors to the summit included Karen Ross, secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture; Gary S. May, chancellor of UC Davis; Illissa Ocko, senior climate scientist at Spark Climate Solutions; Frank Mitloehner, professor and director of the UC Davis CLEAR Center; Aimable Uwizeye, livestock policy officer of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and international experts representing government, academia and industry.

“This is a challenge that can’t be solved in silos,” said Joe Proudman, CLEAR Center Associate Director. “Reducing methane in agriculture means bringing different voices together and collaborating across sectors, and the summit creates the space for those conversations to happen.”

Addressing the audience at the summit, Mitloehner summed up the opportunity shared by this diverse group, emphasizing the core message of the summit. “At the end of the day, we know we need to reduce the climate impact of animal agriculture. In order to do that, we need to reduce methane. And it's really that simple,” Mitloehner stated. “And if the people in this room cannot get that done, then nobody can.”

The report highlights that progress is already underway. In California, dairy producers are reducing methane emissions by approximately 5 million metric tons of CO₂ equivalents annually, helped by tools such as anaerobic digesters that also generate renewable energy and new revenue streams.

Despite the enormity of the challenge, the report reflects a shared sense of optimism moving forward. By working together, the agricultural community is demonstrating that meaningful methane reductions are not only possible — they are already happening.

Registration is now open for the 2026 State of the Science Summit, schedule for June 16-18, 2026 in Davis, California. 

You can also view use the application below, the SOTS Bot, to seek answers the from the 2025 State of the Science summit. Just type in a question related to methane and livestock and it'll search the panels for answers.