Livestock Carbon Market Gets Investment from Tyson

Athian, the world’s first cloud-based carbon marketplace for the livestock industry, announced a new investment from Tyson Ventures Tuesday. Paul Myer, CEO of Athian, says it will provide producers economic incentives for on-farm sustainability practices.

“Athian is building out a platform that connects producers to packers and processors and retailers at the end of the value chain. Our long-term vision for the company is to provide a platform that enables producers to move the needle on climate change by cutting methane in their operations. The only way they can fund those practices is through this connected marketplace that gives them the funding they need to make those interventions on farm.” 

Myer says the latest investment from Tyson Ventures propels the development of the carbon marketplace platform forward.

“The Tyson investment represents really a vote of confidence from the industry and validates our approach to maintain carbon insetting credits to achieve sustainability goals for the entire animal agriculture value chain. We’re excited to have Rahul Ray from Tyson Ventures join the Athian board. We’re looking forward to his input as we build out our platform. The investments from Elanco Animal Health, Tyson Ventures and Newtrient, it takes that kind of market partnership in order to move the ball forward.” 

While carbon markets have been available for years for row crop producers, this is the first livestock-specific carbon market.

“We fundamentally believe that animal agriculture really holds the keys to solving climate change by introducing new practices that mitigate methane emissions. What Athian is building is a platform that provides ongoing funding to producers. Packers and processors have made similar commitments, the only part of the value chain that hasn’t made commitments around that our producers and they need funding in order to implement any kind of practice change or feed additive that will mitigate methane emissions.” 

The platform will be available later this year.

“So, the platform is actually ready to go at the end of this month and we anticipate meeting our first carbon credits in the first half of this year. I come from three generations of cattle ranchers and I’ve always had a close tied to the land and to the work that ranchers and farmers do every day. This ensures the viability of producers in the long term, and it’s the right thing for the environment, it’s the right thing for producers, and it’s the right thing for the country.”