Converting Our Waste Sustainably (COWS) Act

What it does

If Congress passes it, this bill would establish a new federal program to improve economic viability and sustainability for the dairy and livestock industry. The voluntary program would provide resources to help dairy and other livestock operations move to alternative manure handling systems. Specifically, the bill would give farmers tools they need to:

• Improve water quality;
• Boost profitability by modernizing technologies for manure management;
• Improve air quality and foster climate-smart farming by reducing methane emissions.

Who supports this bill?

The COWS Act is a bicameral, bipartisan bill, which means it has some support in both the Senate and the House, as well as among both Republicans and Democrats. Representative Jim Costa and Senator Alex Padilla introduced the bill. In the House, this bill is referred to as H.R. 4327 and these Representatives are already supporting the bill. In the Senate, this bill is referred to as S. 2479, and these Senators are already supporting the bill.

This bill is endorsed by National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition and Environmental Working Group, among other groups.

Want to support this bill?

You can call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 to be connected with your elected officials. An operator will ask for your address and then forward your call to friendly staff who work for the people elected to represent you. As a constituent in their district, your voice matters!

If your Senators and House Representative aren’t already on the list of cosponsors who support the bill:

• Ask your two Senators to “cosponsor the Converting Our Waste Sustainably (COWS) Act, S. 2479.”
• Ask your House Representative to “cosponsor the Converting Our Waste Sustainably (COWS) Act, H.R. 4327.”

If your elected officials are already supporting the Converting Our Waste Sustainably Act, you can always contact them to thank them and help spread the word among your networks.

Resources

If you’d like to learn more about the Converting Our Waste Sustainably (COWS) Act, you can:

• Find detailed instructions for calling or writing your Senators and Representative (tip: enter your address)
• Track the bill’s progress on Congress.gov or GovTrack
• Learn why lawmakers support this bill (Senator Alex Padilla’s press release)
• Read the full bill text

See more bills worthy of your support in the 2023 Farm Bill.