Special edition: lowering feed's carbon footprint
Cutting cow burps
Oregano and green tea may sound like an odd combination, but in Brazil it’s one set of feed additives been explored for its potential to reduce the methane burped by cows.
Moving north, researchers in the US have been working to replicate methane reduction results first seen in Australia from adding red seaweed to cattle diets. Others, like a team at the University of Wisconsin, are trying to paint a picture of the full carbon footprint of different feed composition choices.
Canada also has been investing in efforts to reduce the methane produced by cows. The county financed a $1.75m, multi-year feeding study in 2017 to examine the potential of biochar as a feed ingredient.
Addressing methane production, also has been linked to improvement in feed efficiency according to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. A group there has been exploring changes that can be made to cattle production to reduce gas production.