Prediction of methane (CH_4) emissions by individual beef cattle from ruminal volatile fatty acids (VFA) using compositional linear mixed models

摘要

Enteric CH_4 is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions from the livestock sector. While modifying the diet of cattle is an effective short-term method for mitigating CH_4 emissions, longer-term the wide variation in CH_4 yield (g / kg dry matter intake, DMI) between individual animals should be exploited. A limitation to exploitation is the slow output and cost of measurements of CH_4 made using indirect respiration chambers. Therefore rapid and low cost proxy measures are required. Here weinvestigate the relationship between VFA molar proportions and CH_4 yield with the aim of assessing the potential of VFA as a proxy for methane emissions.