The influence of forage mixtures on methane emissions from growing dairy heifers

摘要

The primary objective of commercial livestock farming is the production of edible animal products, but there is also increasing emphasis on reducing carbon emissions, including methane per unit of food produced. For UK farmers, this presents a challenge as high production costs, especially higher feed prices impact on profit margins. However, the strong global demand for meat and milk products presents opportunities for alternative farming practices, including the use of grass-based systems which potentially have the lowest feed input costs. The production of methane by ruminants is influenced by the type of carbohydrate available for fermentation and therefore has a direct relationship with forage type and quality. In addition, plant secondary compounds such as condensed tannins have also shown inhibitory effects on methanogenesis (Woodward et al., 2001). The objective of this study was to measure methane emissions from growing dairy heifers fed four diverse forage mixtures.