Methane emissions from dairy cattle divergently selected for bloat susceptibility

2008 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 234 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. S. Pinares-Patiño ◽  
G. Molano ◽  
A. Smith ◽  
H. Clark
Keyword(s):  
Titanium Dioxide ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Sulfur Hexafluoride ◽  
Methane Emissions ◽  
Dry Matter Intake ◽  
Tracer Technique ◽  
Ch4 Emissions ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Female Cattle ◽  
Mixed Age

Bloat susceptibility is a genetically inherited trait and this study explored whether cattle divergently selected for this trait (low or high bloat susceptibility) also differ in methane (CH4) emissions. Twelve low bloat (402 ± 12 kg liveweight, LW) and 12 high bloat (334 ± 13 kg LW) Friesian × Jersey mixed age (2–4 years old) non-lactating and non-pregnant female cattle were used in a late autumn (June) grazing experiment involving two periods (P1 and P2). Methane emissions were measured during 5 (P1) or 4 (P2) consecutive days using the sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) tracer technique. In P1 only, titanium dioxide (TiO2) was used for faecal output and feed dry matter intake (DMI) estimations and it was found that the selection lines did not differ in DMI per unit of LW (17.3 ± 1.3 v. 15.4 ± 1.3 g DMI/kg LW, P > 0.05; for low and high bloat cows, respectively). In both periods, the mean absolute CH4 emissions from low bloat cows were significantly higher (P < 0.001) than from high bloat cows (144.5 ± 6.3 v. 107.4 ± 7.2 and 147.9 ± 4.6 v. 119.6 ± 6.5 g/day for P1 and P2, respectively), but on per unit of LW basis, CH4 emissions from low and high bloat animals were not different from each other (P > 0.05) either at P1 (346 ± 16 v. 312 ± 11 mg/kg LW) or P2 (345 ± 11 v. 347 ± 10 mg/kg LW). In P1, when DMI was estimated using TiO2, the selection lines did not differ (P > 0.05) in CH4 yields per unit of intake (20.6 ± 0.8 v. 21.3 ± 1.4 g/kg DMI for low and high bloat, respectively). Previous studies with the same herd showed that the selection lines did not differ in DMI per unit of LW, which was confirmed by the present study from estimations of DMI by TiO2 dosing in P1. It is concluded that low and high bloat susceptible genotypes did not differ in their CH4 yields per unit of feed intake.

Methane emissions from weaned lambs measured at 13, 17, 25 and 35 weeks of age compared with mature ewes consuming a fresh forage diet

2008 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 240 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. W. Knight ◽  
G. Molano ◽  
H. Clark ◽  
A. Cavanagh
Keyword(s):  
Dry Matter ◽  
Sulfur Hexafluoride ◽  
Methane Emissions ◽  
The Other ◽  
Dry Matter Intake ◽  
Ch4 Emission ◽  
Tracer Technique ◽  
Ch4 Emissions ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Measurement Period

Daily methane (CH4) emissions and dry matter intake (DMI) were measured on 14 mature ewes (3–4 years old) and 13 lambs when the lambs were 13, 17, 25 and 35 weeks of age. During the four CH4 measurement periods, all animals were kept in individual metabolism cages and fed pasture cut daily and fed at 1.5 times maintenance. Feed was offered in equal amounts at 0800 and 1500 hours daily. Methane emissions were measured using the sulfur hexafluoride tracer technique and values reported were the mean of measurement on 4–5 days for each animal. In the intervals between CH4 measurements, ewes and lambs grazed separate paddocks containing predominantly ryegrass. Daily CH4 emissions for the ewes ranged from 21.5 to 22.5 ± 1.50 g/day and were significantly higher than those of the lambs which ranged from 10.7 to 17.5 ± 1.50 g/day. Averaged across all four periods, the overall mean CH4 emission for lambs was 8% lower (P < 0.05) than for ewes (21.9 v. 23.8 ± 0.95 g CH4/kg DMI). However, within each measurement period, the emissions of CH4/kg DMI from lambs was significantly lower (P < 0.05) than those of ewes only in the fourth period when the lambs were 35 weeks of age (17.9 v. 21.9 g/kg DMI for lambs and ewes, respectively). The pasture offered to both ewes and lambs in this period was of higher quality than in the other periods (organic matter digestibility of 80% DM v. 68–71% DM at other times) and CH4 emission per kg DMI was lower in both groups of animals than in the other periods. This study supports the hypothesis that young sheep have lower CH4 emissions per unit of intake than mature animals. However, the age at which the lambs produced similar CH4/kg DMI to adult sheep could not be determined precisely because of the changes in pasture quality between different measurement periods.

Methane emissions from young and mature dairy cattle

2016 ◽  
Vol 56 (11) ◽  
pp. 1897 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. A. Ramírez-Restrepo ◽  
H. Clark ◽  
S. Muetzel
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Emission Factor ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Sulfur Hexafluoride ◽  
Dry Matter Intake ◽  
Tracer Technique ◽  
Ch4 Emissions ◽  
Dairy Heifers ◽  
Age Related ◽  
The Mean

Daily methane (CH4) emissions (g) and CH4 yield (g/kg dry matter intake) were measured from 10 dairy heifers (<1 year old) and nine rumen-fistulated cows (>6 years old) fed ryegrass (Lolium perenne) chaffage indoors. The CH4 emissions were estimated using the sulfur hexafluoride tracer technique in four ~5-day periods beginning in June 2008 and repeated 4, 6 and 7 months later. Respiratory chambers were used in four ~13-day periods beginning in November 2008 and repeated 2, 5 and 6 months later. Third and fourth sulfur hexafluoride tracer periods overlapped with the first and second chamber measurement periods, respectively. Averaged over the four measurement periods the CH4 yields determined using both techniques were similar for heifers and cows. The mean CH4 yield estimated by the sulfur hexafluoride tracer technique was 25.3 ± 0.52 for heifers and 24.1 ± 0.55 for mature cows, whereas the mean CH4 yield measured in respiratory chambers was 23.7 ± 0.66 for heifers and 23.6 ± 0.66 for mature cows. Averaged over the eight measurements irrespective of technique, CH4 yields for heifers (24.5 ± 0.42) and cows (23.8 ± 0.43) were similar. There was also no difference between CH4 methods for assessing CH4 yield during the overlapping measurement periods. It was concluded that no consistent differences in CH4 yield existed between heifers and mature cows. Therefore, we do not recommend adoption of an age-related emission factor for cattle in the national inventory calculations for New Zealand.

Fumaric acid supplements have no effect on methane emissions per unit of feed intake in wether lambs

2008 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 165 ◽  
Author(s):  
German Molano ◽  
T. W. Knight ◽  
H. Clark
Keyword(s):  
Fumaric Acid ◽  
Feed Intake ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Sulfur Hexafluoride ◽  
Methane Emissions ◽  
Dry Matter Intake ◽  
Tracer Gas ◽  
Faecal Output ◽  
Ch4 Emissions ◽  
Rumen Ph

Recent reports suggest that supplementing the diet of ruminants with up to 10% fumaric acid (FA) can produce large reductions in methane (CH4) emissions, but the results have been equivocal. This trial evaluates the potential of FA to reduce enteric CH4 emissions from 18-month-old wethers fed lucerne. On two occasions, methane emissions were measured on 20 wethers fed a diet of dried ground lucerne with FA added to the diet at 0, 4, 6, 8 and 10 g FA/100 g dry matter (n = 4 wethers/treatment). Individual daily CH4 emissions were estimated using the sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) tracer gas technique together with measurements of daily dry matter intake (DMI) and total faecal output. Rumen samples were collected twice during the treatment periods in order to evaluate the effect of FA on rumen pH. There was a significant negative regression between FA% in the diet and CH4 emissions/day. However, the addition of FA did not affect CH4 emissions/kg DMI because high levels of FA supplementation reduced DMI. Rumen pH increased linearly with increasing level of FA supplementation. In conclusion, the effect of FA on CH4 emissions in this trial was associated with the resulting reduction in DMI and there were no decreases in CH4 emissions/kg DMI.

Methane emissions from grazing Jersey×Friesian dairy cows in mid lactation

2008 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 230 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Cavanagh ◽  
L. McNaughton ◽  
H. Clark ◽  
C. Greaves ◽  
J. M. Gowan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Dairy Cows ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Sulfur Hexafluoride ◽  
Methane Emissions ◽  
Tracer Technique ◽  
Dilution Technique ◽  
Ad Libitum ◽  
Tracer Dilution ◽  
Clover Pasture

As part of a large quantitative trait loci trial, methane emissions were measured on 698 second and third lactation dairy cows which were the progeny of six bulls. The trial ran over two 4-week periods in January 2004 and 2005. Methane samples were collected over 24 h on each of four consecutive days in 2004 and three consecutive days in 2005. Methane emissions were measured using the sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) tracer dilution technique. During measurement periods, all cows grazed grass–clover pasture with ad libitum herbage allowances. Herbage dry matter intakes (DMI) were calculated using Australian Feeding Standards based on individual cow data of milk yield, liveweight, liveweight change and cow body condition. The average DMI was estimated to be 17.1 kg/day (s.d. = 2.0). Daily methane emissions ranged from 151 to 497 g/day with an average of 311 g/day (s.d. = 43.8) or 18.2 g/kg DMI (s.d. = 2.8); this is 15.7% lower than the figure currently used in the New Zealand national inventory. This study also indicates that there are large differences between cows in methane emissions per kg DMI when estimated using the SF6 tracer technique.

Effects of feeding wheat or corn and of rumen fistulation on milk production and methane emissions of dairy cows

2019 ◽  
Vol 59 (5) ◽  
pp. 891 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. J. Moate ◽  
S. R. O. Williams ◽  
M. H. Deighton ◽  
M. C. Hannah ◽  
B. E. Ribaux ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dairy Cows ◽  
Milk Production ◽  
Milk Fat ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Milk Composition ◽  
Methane Emissions ◽  
Dry Matter Intake ◽  
Canola Meal ◽  
Ch4 Emissions

There has been little research that has quantified methane (CH4) yields when dairy cows consume diets containing wheat grain. Furthermore, although rumen-fistulated animals have been used in many experiments concerned with measuring CH4 emissions, no research has examined the effect of rumen fistulation on in vivo CH4 emissions and yield. This experiment examined the effects of including either wheat or corn grain in the diet and the effects of rumen fistulation on yields of milk and milk components, CH4 emissions, yields, and intensities. Eight rumen-fistulated and six non-fistulated Holstein dairy cows in late lactation were offered a wheat-based diet (WHT) and a corn-based diet (CRN) in a crossover design. For the WHT diet, cows were offered daily, 22.4 kg DM containing 45.5% lucerne hay, 8.9% canola meal, 0.5% mineral mix, 0.5% molasses powder and 44.6% rolled wheat. The CRN diet was similar to the WHT diet except that rolled corn replaced the wheat. There was no difference between the WHT and CRN diets on mean milk yields (27.8 vs 27.9 kg/day), but the WHT diet substantially reduced milk fat concentration (2.76 vs 4.23%) and milk fat yield (0.77 vs 1.18 kg/day). Methane emissions (218 vs 424 g/day), CH4 yield (11.1 vs 19.5 g/kg dry matter intake) and CH4 intensity (7.6 vs 15.7 g/kg milk) were all reduced ~45% by the WHT diet compared with the CRN diet. Rumen fistulation did not affect dry matter intake, milk production, milk composition or CH4 emissions, but decreased CH4 yield and intensity. Including wheat in the diet of dairy cows has the potential to be an effective strategy to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, rumen fistulation was associated with a small reduction in CH4 yield and intensity, and this should be considered when using rumen-fistulated cows in research concerned with CH4 emissions.

Within- and between-animal variance in methane emissions in non-lactating dairy cows

2008 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 124 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. B. Vlaming ◽  
N. Lopez-Villalobos ◽  
I. M. Brookes ◽  
S. O. Hoskin ◽  
H. Clark
Keyword(s):  
Sulfur Hexafluoride ◽  
Energy Levels ◽  
Tracer Technique ◽  
Ch4 Emissions ◽  
Ch4 Production ◽  
Lactating Dairy Cows ◽  
Coefficients Of Variation ◽  
Lactating Dairy Cattle ◽  
Over Time

Several studies on methane (CH4) emissions have focussed on selecting high and low CH4-emitting animals. One challenge faced by this work is the lack of consistency, or repeatability, in animal rankings over time. Repeatability for individual animals over time needs to be high to reliably detect high and low CH4-emitting animals. A possible explanation for the lack of repeatability is a relatively high within-animal variation in daily CH4 emissions, meaning that animals could then change their ranking when compared at different points in time. An experiment was undertaken with four non-lactating dairy cattle to assess the within- and between-animal variation in CH4 emissions over time when measured using the sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) tracer technique. Two contrasting diets were fed to the cattle at maintenance energy levels: lucerne silage (diet 1) and a cereal + lucerne + straw mixed ration diet (diet 2). Daily CH4 measurements were undertaken for 23 days on diet 1 and 30 days on diet 2. There was a significant (P < 0.001) difference between diet 1 and diet 2 in daily CH4 production, with mean (±s.e.) production of 124.3 (11.1) g CH4/day from diet 1 and 169.8 (±11.0) g CH4/day from diet 2. Lower CH4 yield (g CH4/kg dry matter intake) was recorded on diet 1 (22.8 ± 2.0) than diet 2 (32.0 ± 2.0). Cows differed significantly (P < 0.05) from one another in daily CH4 yield (diet 1: cow 1 = 19.4 ± 0.6, cow 2 = 22.2 ± 0.8, cow 3 = 23.2 ± 0.7, cow 4 = 25.4 ± 0.6; diet 2: cow 1 = 26.0 ± 0.7, cow 2 = 36.4 ± 0.7, cow 3 = 29.3 ± 0.7, cow 4 = 36.6 ± 0.7). Variances for daily CH4 yield were smaller for diet 1 (within animal = 6.91, between animals = 6.23) than for diet 2 (within animal = 10.09, between animals = 27.79). Estimates of repeatability (variation between animals/total variation) for daily CH4 yield were 47 and 73% in diet 1 and 2, respectively. Coefficients of variation in average daily CH4 emissions in this experiment ranged from 8 to 18% despite the fact that each animal received the same quantity and quality of feed each day. While further research is required, the high within-animal variability in CH4 emissions measured using the SF6 tracer technique may explain why there has been difficulty in obtaining consistent rankings in CH4 yields when animals are measured on multiple occasions. The results also suggest that the SF6 tracer technique may exaggerate apparent between animal differences in CH4 emissions.

scholarly journals Variability and quasi-decadal changes in the methane budget over the period 2000–2012

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marielle Saunois ◽  
Philippe Bousquet ◽  
Benjamin Poulter ◽  
Anna Peregon ◽  
Philippe Ciais ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Biomass Burning ◽  
Methane Emissions ◽  
Data Driven ◽  
Atmospheric Methane ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Ch4 Emissions ◽  
Ensemble Mean ◽  
The Mean ◽  
The Tropics

Abstract. Following the recent Global Carbon project (GCP) synthesis of the decadal methane (CH4) budget over 2000–2012 (Saunois et al., 2016), we analyse here the same dataset with a focus on quasi-decadal and inter-annual variability in CH4 emissions. The GCP dataset integrates results from top-down studies (exploiting atmospheric observations within an atmospheric inverse-modelling frameworks) and bottom-up models, inventories, and data-driven approaches (including process-based models for estimating land surface emissions and atmospheric chemistry, inventories of anthropogenic emissions, and data-driven extrapolations). The annual global methane emissions from top-down studies, which by construction match the observed methane growth rate within their uncertainties, all show an increase in total methane emissions over the period 2000–2012, but this increase is not linear over the 13 years. Despite differences between individual studies, the mean emission anomaly of the top-down ensemble shows no significant trend in total methane emissions over the period 2000–2006, during the plateau of atmospheric methane mole fractions, and also over the period 2008–2012, during the renewed atmospheric methane increase. However, the top-down ensemble mean produces an emission shift between 2006 and 2008, leading to 22 [16–32] Tg CH4 yr−1 higher methane emissions over the period 2008–2012 compared to 2002–2006. This emission increase mostly originated from the tropics with a smaller contribution from mid-latitudes and no significant change from boreal regions. The regional contributions remain uncertain in top-down studies. Tropical South America and South and East Asia seems to contribute the most to the emission increase in the tropics. However, these two regions have only limited atmospheric measurements and remain therefore poorly constrained. The sectorial partitioning of this emission increase between the periods 2002–2006 and 2008–2012 differs from one atmospheric inversion study to another. However, all top-down studies suggest smaller changes in fossil fuel emissions (from oil, gas, and coal industries) compared to the mean of the bottom-up inventories included in this study. This difference is partly driven by a smaller emission change in China from the top-down studies compared to the estimate in the EDGARv4.2 inventory, which should be revised to smaller values in a near future. Though the sectorial partitioning of six individual top-down studies out of eight are not consistent with the observed change in atmospheric 13CH4, the partitioning derived from the ensemble mean is consistent with this isotopic constraint. At the global scale, the top-down ensemble mean suggests that, the dominant contribution to the resumed atmospheric CH4 growth after 2006 comes from microbial sources (more from agriculture and waste sectors than from natural wetlands), with an uncertain but smaller contribution from fossil CH4 emissions. Besides, a decrease in biomass burning emissions (in agreement with the biomass burning emission databases) makes the balance of sources consistent with atmospheric 13CH4 observations. The methane loss (in particular through OH oxidation) has not been investigated in detail in this study, although it may play a significant role in the recent atmospheric methane changes.

scholarly journals 389 Effects of energy source on performance and carcass characteristics in hair lambs finished in feedlot

2019 ◽  
Vol 97 (Supplement_3) ◽  
pp. 155-156
Author(s):  
Roman Castañeda-Serrano ◽  
Fabian Gutierrez-Oviedo ◽  
Marcela Diaz-Cristancho ◽  
Jairo Pardo-Guzman ◽  
Paula Lozano-Morales ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Energy Source ◽  
Body Weight ◽  
Feed Efficiency ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Palm Kernel ◽  
Carcass Characteristics ◽  
Dry Matter Intake ◽  
Feeding Trial ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Dietary Treatments

Abstract The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of different energy sources on performance, and carcass characteristics in hair lambs finished in feedlots. Twenty-eight hair lambs with an initial body weight (BW) 20.8 ± 3.01, were randomly assigned to one of four dietary treatments included with seven lambs per treatment. The dietary treatments included an energy source included at 18% Dry matter: S. spectabilis flour (SF), palm kernel (PK), corn bran (CB) and rice bran (RB) in a diet based in corn silage, ground corn, soybean meal formulated to 13.0% PC and 2.6 Mcal/Kg of DM. The feeding trial was performed for 13 weeks. Water was allowed ad libitum. Animals were slaughtered after the feeding trial, and the carcasses were kept at 4°C for 24 h under Colombian standard guidelines. Data were analyzed by using the ANOVA procedure, SAS version 9.1 to perform a randomized complete experiment with four diets. For each studied variable, the mean and standard error of the mean (SEM) were calculated and differences between means were evaluated Using Tukey′s Test (P ≤ 0.05). Final body weight, hot carcass weight, cold carcass weight, hot dressing carcass (%), and cold dressing weight (%) were not different between the four treatments (P &gt; 0.05). Dry matter intake was superior to the S. spectabilis flour (P &lt; 0,001). Feed efficiency was higher in the CB and RB treatments (P &lt; 0,05). These results indicate that the inclusion of S. spectabilis and palm kernel could improve the dry matter intake and corn bran and rice bran the feed efficiency without effects on carcass characteristics

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