Image courtesy of Wikipedia
Of all the nutty ideas in this list, shifting cow feed is the most practical way to reduce methane emissions from cattle. Scientists working for Groupe Danone, the makers of Dannon yogurt, found feeding cows alfalfa and flax seeds — which mimic natural grasses — can reduce emission 18 percent compared to cheaper diets of corn and soy. Scientists suspect the greater number of omega-3 fatty acids in natural grasses help improve the fermentation process in a cow’s rumen.
Farmers who have tested the feeding technique also report that the new feed result in tastier milk and healthier cows.
Image via Flickr
Speaking of rumens, kangaroos also have one to help them ferment grass before it passes into other stomachs. But while cows burp large amounts of methane, kangaroos only belch tiny amounts of harmless acid. That has Australia’s Athol Klieve thinking he might able be to teach a cow’s foregut to act like a kangaroo’s by shifting its microbial composition.
Image courtesy of Wikipedia
Why use artificial selection to adjust color, shape and size when you can breed a cow to be less gassy? Stephen Moore, a professor at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, started examining cow genetics in 2009. In primary tests, Moore managed to breed cattle that produced 25 percent less methane than an average cow. He achieved the results through breeding the cows to grow faster — thus reducing the amount of time they have to burp on the feed lot — and improving the efficiency by which they turn food into muscle.
Grape pomace from wineries in Southern Australia. Image courtesy of Wikipedia.
Nothing like a nice feed bucket of wine byproducts to ease a cow’s stomach. A 2011 study from the Victoria Department of Primary Industries in Australia found that feeding cows grape pomace — the stems, seeds and skins from wine grapes — reduced methane emissions from cattle by 20 percent. The feed also increased the number of nutritional fatty acids in the cow’s milk.
In a related effect, Canadian rancher Jandince Ravndahl began feeding her Angus cows one liter of homemade red wine each day. The cow cocktails improve the meat texture and reduce greenhouse emissions from the livestock. According to Ravndahl, the cows also moo more and seemed relaxed.
A cow at the National Institute of Agricultural Technology on the outskirts of Buenos Aires in 2008. Reuters/Marcos Brindicci
No one wants to attach balloons to cows as a practical solution to the methane problem, but the National Institute of Agricultural Technology did just that as a part of a 2008 study on livestock. Results from the burp backpacks revealed that 30 percent of Argentina’s greenhouse emissions could be generated from cow gas.
Image courtesy of Pillard’s Miniature Cattle in Rockwell, Iowa
Before passing away in 2011, Professor Richard Gradwhol helped to create 18 new breeds of miniature cattle on his farm outside Seattle, Wash. Not only did the miniature cows produce excellent beef on a small plot of land (the animals are 25 to 30 percent more feed efficient), but Gradwhol found that they also passed a much more polite amount of gas. One needs a collection of 10 minicows to produce the same amount of methane a full-sized beef hefer. The itty-bitty bulls and cows have become much more popular in the U.S. with the rise of hobby farming.
Most tip the scales at over 1,000 pounds, require several acres to graze, and can eat well over a ton of supplemental grain annually – which helps explain why demand for miniature bovines has been growing steadily since the early 2000s, when breeders began marketing the minis in earnest. (Many of the 26 breed categories recognized by the International Miniature Cattle Breeders Registry were created during the last two decades.) Only 500 to 700 pounds api
It’s the time of year when we’re all chomping at the bit to head out to green pasture. We can see the grass coming up, we’re tired of feeding hay and our stock is tired of eating it. We know that hitting our pastures too soon could come back to bite us later and might mean more hay feeding next year. Every spring it’s the same struggle – to graze or not to graze! Jason Rowntree of Michigan State University can help you in just 3 short minutes. In this video, he
Cattle are considered to be well attuned to our modern beef industry and we only need to breed the right bull to a cow for profit. Included in this theory is adding all the necessary inputs recommended by every magazine you pick up. This has been the typical system for 40 years, but it doesn’t consider the thousands of years of natural selection that got cattle to where they are now. This selection did not include our modern concepts, such as large birth weights, big weaning weights, heavy mil
Skinny cows may look better in bikinis, but in the beef business that’s not really how we measure success. Economic losses from thin cows can be substantial. As the graph below shows, the thinner the cow, the less likely she is to become pregnant. While weaning weight may not always be a good measure of your success as a producer, calves from skinny cows will have lower weaning weights, which could result in lower revenues. This is because skinny cows produce less colostrum, so their c