Researchers at the University of Georgia are helping farmers deal with climate change. They hope to mitigate the effects of drought, hotter temperatures and possible regulation of greenhouse gases.

UGA scientists are sharing a 4-million dollar federal grant with scientists at other universities. The Georgia researchers plan to focus on ways to help poultry producers.

Chicken houses use lots of energy in order to keep birds cool. And UGA Professor Mark Risse says since agriculture emits 10-percent of the nation’s greenhouse gas, farmers may need to deal with more regulations.

“What we’re doing a lot of research on is developing units that would burn poultry litter on the farm and then produce energy from that process.”

Georgia produced more than 36-billion pounds of chicken in 2010 making it the number one producer in the U.S.

Tags: University of Georgia, Georgia chicken industry, Georgia Poultry