Researchers look for answers for cattle emissions

The cattle industry is looking at a variety of methods to mitigate methane emissions ranging from molecular manipulation to genetics. It’s a wide-open field, says Conor McCabe, a doctoral student at the University of California-Davis who focuses on dairy cattle sustainability. “Burping produces 95% of all methane emissions from cattle,” he says. “They consume a diet high in plant material and they need to produce methane to move along the digestive process.” As the cattle industry works on lessening methane emissions, McCabe says one option may be feed additives. He says several companies are working on additives using a compound that will reduce the enzymes that produce methane. McCabe and his colleagues are working with a molecule called 3-NOP, commercially known as Bovaer, to help cut emissions. Feed may also be altered to reduce methane. “Changing what we feed cows in the United States can prevent some methane from forming in the first place, thus reducing emissions,” McCabe