Effect of pasture type (alfalfa vs. grass) on methane and carbon dioxide production by yearling beef heifers

2006 ◽  
Vol 86 (3) ◽  
pp. 409-418 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. V. Chaves ◽  
L. C. Thompson ◽  
A. D. Iwaasa ◽  
S. L. Scott ◽  
M. E. Olson ◽  
...  

The objective of this study was to determine effect of pasture type on methane and carbon dioxide production by heifers grazing alfalfa or grass pastures at three sites across western Canada. All pastures were intensively managed so that heifers had ad libitum access to new forage material each day, and pastures were back-fenced to prevent the heifers accessing previously grazed areas. As measured using the sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) tracer technique, total methane production at the Brandon, MB, and Swift Current, SK, sites was unaffected by pasture type (averaging 157.4 g CH4 head-1 d-1), whereas at Lethbridge, AB, heifers grazing alfalfa produced more methane than did those on the grass pasture (162.8 vs. 113.5 g CH4 head-1 d-1; P < 0.05). Calculated with dry matter intake (DMI) estimated by alkane analysis, methane production per unit DMI was 3 9% lower from heifers consuming grass compared with alfalfa (P < 0.001). When intakes were estimated by the Cornell Net Carbohydrate and Protein System (CNCPS) model, CH4 production kg-1 DMI did not differ (P > 0.05) between pasture types. Loss of gross energy intake (GEI) to methane, as estimated by alkane analysis, was 6.9% for heifers grazing grass, and 9.6% for heifers grazing alfalfa (P < 0.001). Calculated using CNCPS, losses were similar (P > 0.05) between grass and alfalfa (5.8 vs. 6.2% of GEI, respectively). Carbon dioxide production per unit DMI did not differ between pasture types, irrespective of method used to estimate intake (alkanes or CNCPS). The method used to predict intake can have a major influence on calculated values when methane emissions are expressed as a percentage of GEI in grazing ruminants. At each site, CH4 emissions and in vitro digestibility of the forage were influenced by the composition of the stand and the maturity of the forage at the time of harvest. Key words: Alfalfa, grass, grazing, legume, methane emissions

2018 ◽  
Vol 58 (12) ◽  
pp. 2258 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Wang ◽  
A. Müller ◽  
D. Hilfiker ◽  
S. Marquardt ◽  
M. Kreuzer ◽  
...  

In order to identify new ways to mitigate methane emissions from ruminants, six medicinal plants, Achyranthes aspera, Azadirachta indica, Andrographis paniculata, Helicteres isora, Tinospora cordifolia and Piper longum, were evaluated in vitro with respect to ruminal fermentation and methanogenesis. A three-stage approach with n = 6 per treatment was applied. Two 24-h Hohenheim gas test experiments were performed by incubating the plants first as sole substrate and then added to a basal diet (10 g/kg diet DM). Finally, in a 10-day Rusitec experiment, A. paniculata, P. longum and T. cordifolia were supplemented individually and in all binary combinations to a basal diet (25 g/kg DM). Provided as sole substrate, all plants, except P. longum, decreased methane and carbon dioxide production (P < 0.05), and reduced the methane : short-chain fatty acid ratio (P < 0.05) in the Hohenheim gas test. In Rusitec, none of the individual supplements decreased methane production. The combination of A. paniculata with P. longum as a supplement was effective in mitigating the methane : carbon dioxide ratio and simultaneously maintaining feeding value. In conclusion, all medicinal plants incubated as sole substrate, except P. longum, possess anti-methanogenic properties, especially T. cordifolia, A. indica and H. isora. When supplemented at the levels investigated, they were mostly neutral with respect to rumen fermentation and nutrient digestion. Combining A. paniculata with P. longum mitigated methane without side effects on general ruminal fermentation. Further investigations, carried out in vivo, will demonstrate how useful this plant combination is in ruminant nutrition.


1931 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 319-329
Author(s):  
JOSEPH NEEDHAM ◽  
MARJORY STEPHENSON ◽  
DOROTHY MOYLE NEEDHAM

1. The vitelline membrane of the infertile hen's egg exhibits no dehydrase activity. 2. The vitelline membrane has no measurable aerobic respiration in vitro, nor has the yolk of the infertile egg. This confirms the view that the carbon dioxide production of the intact egg is not the result of any true respiration. 3. When incubated anaerobically in vitro, bacteriologically sterile yolk produces consistently small amounts of lactic acid. 4. This glycolysis is not the result of any catalytic activity of the vitelline membrane, but takes place throughout the substance of the yolk. 5. Under similar conditions, bacteriologically sterile yolk produces small amounts of a substance or substances estimatable as ethyl alcohol. 6. If the yolk suspension is bacterially contaminated, however, lactic acid and alcohol are produced in amounts closely similar to those found by earlier workers on this subject. 7. The heat of glycolysis, under anaerobic conditions, calculated from the amounts of lactic acid experimentally found to be formed, is of the same order as (a) the calculated requirement of the vitelline membrane (Straub), and (b) the observed heat production (Langworthy and Barott). Thus even if the vitelline membrane is capable of using energy to do osmotic work, the yolk is only capable of supplying it by means of its glycolytic mechanism if the whole energy output of the whole yolk can be made available for doing work at the membrane.


2019 ◽  
Vol 94 (4) ◽  
pp. 1469-1480 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Albores-Moreno ◽  
J. A. Alayón-Gamboa ◽  
L. A. Miranda-Romero ◽  
B. Alarcón-Zúñiga ◽  
G. Jiménez-Ferrer ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 296
Author(s):  
Sarishti Katwal ◽  
M.M. Trivedi ◽  
P.R. Pandya ◽  
M.Y. Bhavsar ◽  
D.T. Prajapati

2020 ◽  
Vol 44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rayudika Aprilia Patindra Purba ◽  
Siwaporn Paengkoum ◽  
Chalermpon Yuangklang ◽  
Pramote Paengkoum

ABSTRACT At present, there is little information regarding whether supplementation with Piper betle powder (PBP) and sunflower oil (SFO) has a synergistic effect on lowering methane emissions without negatively impacting ruminal fermentation. This study investigated the effects of PBP, supplemented either with or without SFO, on biogas release, fermentation end-products, and microorganisms in the rumen of lactating goats. The treatments were run in a completely randomized 3 × 5 factorial arrangement, whereby 0, 15, and 30 mg SFO were combined with 0, 15, 30, 45, and 60 mg PBP on a dry matter basis. The outcomes were assessed in vitro. PBP was obtained from the perennial plant Piper betle L., which is an abundant source of flavonoids and their aromatic derivatives. SFO, which reduces dietary methane emissions, was supplemented to confirm whether it interacted with other nutrients in the ruminant diet. SFO × PBP significantly (p < 0.05) decreased methane production, enhanced total volatile fatty acid concentrations, and decreased the number of rumen protozoa. We found that 15-30 mg, but not 45-60 mg, PBP combined with 0, 15, and 30 mg SFO increased (p < 0.05) total gas production (including CO2) from fermentation. However, our results suggested that at least 45 mg PBP, either alone or combined with SFO, was required to reduce ammonia-N (p < 0.05). Not all treatments affected rumen pH. In conclusion, supplementing PBP (< 30 mg), either alone or combined with SFO, has a suppressing effect on methane production while preserving an optimum rate of rumen fermentation.


2012 ◽  
Vol 92 (6) ◽  
pp. 1187-1197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gilles Bélanger ◽  
Philippe Savoie ◽  
Gaétan Parent ◽  
Annie Claessens ◽  
Annick Bertrand ◽  
...  

Bélanger, G., Savoie, P., Parent, G., Claessens, A., Bertrand, A., Tremblay, G. F., Massé, D., Gilbert, Y. and Babineau, D. 2012. Switchgrass silage for methane production as affected by date of harvest. Can. J. Plant Sci. 92: 1187–1197. Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) is a warm-season grass recognized as a potential biomass crop for energy production in North America, but little information exists on the effect of harvest date on forage and silage characteristics of switchgrass grown in eastern Canada. Our objectives were to determine how harvest date affects several forage and silage characteristics of switchgrass and to relate these to specific methane yield from anaerobically digested switchgrass silage. Switchgrass, seeded in 2002 and 2006, was harvested and ensiled as a one-cut system on three dates in 2007: late July, early September, and early October. The regrowth from the late July harvest was also harvested in early October as a two-cut system. Silage quality parameters [pH, and concentrations of N, N-NH3, total amino acids (TAA), and volatile fatty acids (VFA)] indicated adequate fermentation of all silage samples. In a one-cut system, delaying harvest from late July to early September increased forage dry matter (DM) yield from 9.0 to 11.5 Mg ha−1, forage soluble carbohydrate (SC) concentration from 51 to 85 g kg−1 DM, and silage SC concentration from 13 to 25 g kg−1 DM; delaying harvest from late July to early October decreased forage in vitro true digestibility (IVTD) from 720 to 582 g kg−1 DM, forage in vitro digestibility of the neutral detergent fibre (dNDF) from 590 to 409 g kg−1 DM, and silage acetate concentration from 7.7 to 2.6 g kg−1 DM. The regrowth had higher IVTD and dNDF, lower acid detergent fibre concentration, and higher silage lactate and acetate concentrations than a single harvest taken in early September or early October. The two-cut system and the single harvest in early September produced the highest seasonal forage DM yields (11.5 and 11.9 Mg ha−1). High specific methane yield was (i) correlated with low forage fibre concentration and high DM digestibility and (ii) more correlated to silage concentrations of lactate and acetate than to silage SC concentration.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 775-783 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas M Winders ◽  
Melissa L Jolly-Breithaupt ◽  
Hannah C Wilson ◽  
James C MacDonald ◽  
Galen E Erickson ◽  
...  

Abstract The objectives of these studies were to evaluate the effects of biochar (0%, 0.8%, or 3% of diet dry matter) on diet digestibility and methane and carbon dioxide production from cattle on growing and finishing diets. The growing diet consisted of 21% brome hay, 20% wheat straw, 30% corn silage, 22% wet distillers grains plus solubles, and 7% supplement. The finishing diet consisted of 53% dry-rolled corn, 15% corn silage, 25% wet distillers grains plus solubles, and 7% supplement. In both trials biochar replaced fine ground corn in the supplement. Six crossbred steers (initial body weight [BW] 529 kg; SD = 16 kg) were used in both the growing and finishing trial. The growing diets were evaluated over 6 periods followed by the finishing trial with 3 periods. Digestibility measures were taken over 4 d after at least 8 d of adaptation to diets followed by 2 d of gas emission measurements using headbox calorimeters. Dry matter intake (DMI) was not affected (P ≥ 0.43; 7.91 kg/d) by biochar inclusion in the growing study and increased quadratically (P = 0.07) in the finishing study with 0.8% biochar inclusion having the greatest DMI (12.9 kg/d). Organic matter (OM) and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) digestibility increased quadratically (P = 0.10) in the growing study whereas OM digestibility tended to linearly decrease (P = 0.13) and NDF digestibility was not affected (P ≥ 0.39) by biochar inclusion in the finishing diet. Digestible energy intake (Mcal/d) was not affected (P ≥ 0.25) by biochar inclusion in the growing or finishing study. Methane production (g/d) tended to decrease quadratically (P = 0.14) in the growing study and was decreased 10.7% for the 0.8% biochar treatment relative to the control. There were no statistical differences in methane production (g/d) in the finishing study (P ≥ 0.32) but cattle on the 0.8% biochar treatment produced numerically less (9.6%) methane than the control. Methane production as g/kg DMI of the 0.8% biochar treatment relative to the control was numerically reduced 9.5% and 18.4% in the growing and finishing studies, respectively (P ≥ 0.13). Carbon dioxide production (g/d and g/kg of intake) quadratically decreased (P ≤ 0.06) in the growing study but was not affected by treatment in the finishing study (P ≥ 0.34). Although biochar is not a U.S. Food and Drug Administration -approved feed for cattle, the initial research shows potential as a methane mitigation strategy in both growing and finishing diets.


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