The UK plans to reduce methane emissions from farms

The UK government formulates the plan Strengthening Britain To use methane blockers in livestock from 2025, as livestock alone is responsible for 14% of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions in the country. This worries the British government because it registered more than 9 million cows and calves on its territory.

Highly efficient methane inhibitors are one of the solutions proposed in this strategy, which seeks to achieve zero net growth, that is, generate a zero balance of pollution. Farmers’ commitment to introducing methane inhibitors will be confirmed when the true efficacy of this type of product is verified.

“Includes the ambition to require the introduction of products of proven safety and efficacy in compound feed for livestock as soon as practicable in England,” reads the document from the British government, in which it confirms that methane blockers will be deployed as soon as possible, albeit in stages.

The inclusion of livestock in this climate strategy was a petition made by the people who run these producers. The idea arose from a consultation launched in August about how new types of feed could reduce methane emissions from the animals’ digestive systems.

Although what might be believed, most of the methane produced by livestock, especially cattle, comes from “the front, not the back,” says Tom Bradshaw, vice president of the National Farmers’ Federation (NFU). I mean, the cow burp is the problem. “I don’t think we know enough yet about the impact of this on feed efficiency, but it’s something we need to look at to try to reduce methane emissions,” Bradshaw said.

A study by the University of Pennsylvania has opened up research on how livestock feed can reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Specifically, one of their research shows that feeding livestock seaweed reduces methane regurgitation. The problem, they explain, is that the taste is unpleasant to animals.

Washington State University is testing baby kangaroo droppings as a feed additive for livestock, because baby kangaroo feces cause cows to produce acetic acid instead of methane. Unlike greenhouse gases, this acid is not emitted as flatulence or belching and benefits the animal’s muscular system. The results are, for now, in the lab and not in the real field.

Genetics emit fewer greenhouse gases

Genetics was New Zealand’s cattle farmer’s solution to production by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. There are 6 sheep per person on the island and since 2012 selective breeding has been carried out thanks to gene editing techniques. As a result, New Zealand sheep produce less methane and the government of the Kiwi nation has increased taxes on farms that keep high-emitting sheep.

The Polytechnic University of Madrid is involved in a project that investigates how linseed-based feed, combined with selective breeding of dairy cows, can reduce methane emissions by 20%.