(The Center Square) — Researchers believe cows hold a key to reducing air pollution – and it starts in their stomachs.
That’s why the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research will spend $750,000 to support one man’s quest to lower enteric emissions, also known as the amount of methane cows expel when they burp.
Grant recipient and Penn State University Distinguished Professor of Dairy Nutrition Alexander Hristov believes developing methane inhibitors for cattle feed could solve the problem.
“Mitigating enteric methane emissions is a major focus of farmer-led voluntary efforts by the dairy sector to meet environmental stewardship goals,” Juan Tricarico, senior vice president for environmental research at the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy, said in a press release.
Methane reductions could be significant: from U.S. dairy systems, about 50% of the methane produced comes from the cattle’s digestive system (called enteric methane), with the other 50% from manure management, Hristov said. Among cattle raised for beef, about 80% of the methane is from their digestive system.
The commonwealth ranks eighth for milk production nationally, with 10 billion pounds of milk produced annually by 468,000 cows.
Hristov’s research focuses on inhibitors that reduce the amount of methane 30% in lab tests. Other approaches have included genetic selection, vaccination to reduce microbes responsible for methane, and reducing emissions from manure.
However, using feed additives has been limited by a regulatory process that has been more strict in the United States. One compound, called Bovaer (3-Nitrooxypropanol), is approved for use in Europe and some Latin American countries, Hristov said, but is still under consideration by the FDA.
The lengthy approval process has been a regular issue in the agricultural sector.
“That’s a concern for the dairy industry, a concern for scientists, and should be a concern also for the public,” Hristov said.
Though additives appear beneficial for agriculture production and the environment, Hristov said dairy farmers alone shouldn’t bear the extra cost.
“Once these compounds are approved and available for use, that will be an additional extra expense for the dairy producers … so there’s got to be some benefit for them in terms of production or society somehow has to also participate in this cost-share,” he said. “If we are all so concerned about the environment and we want to go and buy milk and dairy products, we need to share the cost of these environmental interventions.”
