A cow placed in a methane capture chamber at an Ellinbank, Australia, dairy research facility.
An Australian dairy nutrition expert says he and other scientists have uncovered a cost-effective method to reduce the methane output from one of the world’s largest greenhouse gas producers — cows.
Chris Grainger of the Department of Primary Industries told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. that feeding livestock byproducts from other industries, such as cottonseeds, can significantly reduce the amount of methane the cows produce as a result of digestion.
“It’s high in energy and it’s high in protein levels, it’s about 22 percent crude protein, but the secret ingredient is that it contains about 22 percent oil,” Grainger told the broadcaster.
He and scientists from Canada and New Zealand found that the oil from cottonseed is what seems to cause the reduction in the greenhouse gas flatulence.
The team says the use of such high protein fodder would also increase milk production.
Photo: Department of Primary Industries
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