New Insights into enteric methane mitigation in dairy cows! 🐄🌍
We're glad to share our latest research from the Animal Nutrition group at ETH Zürich, published on JDS of American Dairy Science Association (ADSA).
This study, led by my Ph.D. student Xiaoqi Ma, provides an in-depth evaluation and comparison of two chamber techniques - #GreenFeed (GF, developed by C-Lock Inc.) and #RespirationChambers (RC) - for monitoring enteric gaseous exchanges in dairy cows housed in tie-stalls.
Key Highlights:
- We compared daily and intraday measurements of CH₄, H₂, CO₂, and O₂ using both methods.
- Findings show strong correlations between GF and RC for CH₄ and H₂ emissions, although minor differences were observed in the estimated methane yield.
- GF effectively captured the inhibitory effect of an inhibitor on daily enteric CH₄ emission at treatment/group-level as RC.
- The intraday patterns of CH₄ and H₂ production captured by GF provided a close approximation for those measured by RC, but potential under- and over-estimation were observed.
- This study was conducted in the summer (RC - thermoneutral vs. GF - mild/moderate #heatstress); further evaluations under the same weather conditions are warranted.
The study provides crucial insights into the strengths and limitations of GF as a more scalable alternative to RC for #GHG measurement for the evaluation and implementation of CH₄ mitigation strategies, and national inventories, providing valuable insights for further evaluations and improvements.
This work was supported by other researchers in my group, Susanna Räisänen, Kai Wang, Prof. Dr. Katrin Giller, Md Zakirul Islam, Yang Li, Rong Peng, Marion Reichenbach, Aira Maye Serviento, Xiaoge Sun, and Sergej Amelchanka from AgroVet-Strickhof. The very initial discussions with J. Manuel (Manolo) Ramos Nieves set up the ground for this work.
Great job, guys!
🔍 Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/g25Tu6QW
#AnimalNutrition #MethaneMitigation #SustainableAgriculture #DairyScience #GHG #Chamber