Greenhouse Gas: Holy Cow! Stop Already!

As any fifth grader knows fossil fuels and energy production are the largest producers of greenhouse gasses.  But many Americans are unaware scientists have documented that cattle also contribute unhealthy emissions.  New research holds promise of a solution to relieve gasbag cows.

Leading scientists and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have quantified the impact of livestock methane emissions.  The best estimate is that these animals account for 4.2 percent of all greenhouse gas output.  That includes not only cows, but sheep, pigs, chickens and horses.

However, dairy and beef cattle account for the largest share of animal methane emissions.  In 2016, the U.S. had 38.1 million cows, including 29 million beef and 9 million diary cattle.  California leads the nation in dairy cows with 1.8 million. Texas ranks first with 10.9 million beef cows.

Scientists beef with cows is the animals perpetually burp and exhale, creating methane.  The beasts also pass methane gas from the other end of their carcass, but to a lesser degree.  Manure also is a source of methane emissions.  Think about these details next time you bite into a juicy steak.

California politicians decided to raise a stink about all that burping and defecating so they adopted new regulations requiring diary farmers and producers of other livestock to cut methane emissions by 40 percent by 2030.  How would you like to be the bureaucrat measuring cattle emissions?

Some smart people at the University of California, Davis, offered to tackle the issue to give cattle ranchers a way to meet the methane mandate.  A team from the Department of Animal Science zeroed in on the diet and digestive tract of the animals.  They also found a nugget from past studies.

A trial in Australia found that introducing just two percent seaweed into feed munched by cows could reduce methane emissions by 99 percent.  The seaweed inhibits an enzyme that contributes to methane production.  But the cows turned up their noses when they tasted the seaweed.

Starting with that research, the UCD group experimented with several supplements until they stumbled upon one the cows practically mooed over.  They found a touch of molasses masked the smell of the ocean algae (aka seaweed).  And you thought molasses was just for baked beans.

Researchers introduced the sweetened seaweed into standard cattle pellets made from oil cakes, peanut seedling, grass, maize straw, wheat straw, wheat bran and other agricultural byproducts.  As the cows snacked on the mixture scientists measured the methane in their breath.

The results were amoozing, according to the UCD team.  Cows whose diet included the molasses enriched seaweed had reductions in methane gas emission that exceeded the California legislature's target.  Researchers called the findings "very surprising and promising."

Of course, less methane would be pointless if the cows milk tasted like seaweed.  Throughout the trial, researchers tested the cows milk for flavor, yield and nutritional content.  Preliminary results were encouraging, but more research is required to verify the findings of the small survey.

"We have much more research to do to determine if seaweed supplements could provide a viable, long term-term solution," confirmed Ermias Kebreab with the UCD Animal Science Department.  "But we are very encouraged by these early results." The trial involved only 12 smelly cows.

Beyond tenderizing emissions, growing seaweed doesn't require land, fresh water or fertilizer.  No carbon producing equipment would be needed to harvest the seaweed, which can't be said for hay and other livestock feed.  This could be a win-win for the cattle industry and the climate.

No matter the environmental issues, it would be udder-ly senseless to adopt the molasses and seaweed recipe unless cows are convinced it cud be worth chewing.  Researchers hopefully won't have to wait until the cows come home to have an answer to that question.