Reducing methane emissions from livestock would benefit farmers and the environment.
The study, published in the Journal of Dairy Science, shows that low emitting cows tend to be smaller and house different microbial communities. These differences are not associated with reduced milk production or altered milk composition.
“We found that differences in methane emissions were accompanied by differences in microbial populations as well as their fermentation pathways,” says senior author Dipti Pitta, associate professor in the School of Veterinary Medicine at Penn.
“Although we focused on dairy cows, the outcomes of this project can easily be applied to any other ruminant livestock, such as beef cattle and sheep.”
Source: futurity.org
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Categories: Kansas, Livestock, Beef Cattle, Dairy Cattle