Burping bovine: University of Guelph researchers develop tool to predict how much methane a cow will belch out
University of Guelph (U of G) researchers have been looking at ways to breed dairy cows that burp out less methane, a harmful greenhouse gas emission contributing to climate change.
“Methane has a global warming potential 28 times that of carbon dioxide,” said Christine Baes, chair of the U of G animal bioscience department.
Baes is leading a team from the university and Ontario Dairy Research Centre that has developed a new tool, which estimates how much methane will be produced by each of the roughly 700,000 registered dairy cows on farms across Canada.
Researchers with the University of Guelph are working to breed low-methane producing cows. (Spencer Turcotte/CTV News)
Almost 14 per cent our greenhouse gas emissions around the world come from burping livestock, according to the U of G. The university is hoping to change that.
“Over the past several years, our team has been trying to deliver a genetic evolution for methane emission and feed efficiency in dairy cattle,” Baes said.
It means breeders can now select which cows will produce calves that, when fully grown, will belch out less greenhouse gas.
“We're really proud that this research has resulted in Canada being the first country worldwide to be able to deliver genetic evolutions for methane emissions,” Baes said.
HERE’S HOW IT WORKS
At the research centre, which operates in partnership with the university, cows put their heads into 'green feed machines’ and as they eat their hearty meal, paired with heavy breathing and burping, they produce data.
“So when the animal is breathing, those gases are taken up by the machine and measured,” Baes explained.
With about 500 cows at the research centre, there is no shortage of burps to measure.
In fall 2022, the team published a paper in the Journal of Dairy Science describing how to predict methane emissions in dairy cattle using milk mid-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (MIRS).
The U of G said in a recent study that MIRS data could be used to predict methane emissions. Matching up milk samples with DNA samples from individual cows allows a farmer to pinpoint which animals to breed for lower emissions. Ultimately, the hope is that it will contribute to more sustainable dairy operations.
WHICH END IS WORSE?
When it comes to passing gas from the back passage, Baes said the main concern comes from the mouth.
“Many people do think the problematic gas comes out the back end but that's not the case. About 95 per cent of enteric methane emissions are coming out of the front end of the animal,” she said.
The new methane emissions evaluations will initially be provided to owners of Holstein cattle involved in registration and herd testing. They make up the majority of Canada's dairy herd.
Other breeds will be included as more data is collected.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
BREAKING Mounties will not be charged in shooting death of B.C. Indigenous man
Three Mounties in British Columbia will not face charges in the killing of a 38-year-old Indigenous man on Vancouver Island in 2021.
Douglas DC-4 plane with 2 people on board crashes into river outside Fairbanks, Alaska
A Douglas C-54 Skymaster airplane crashed into the Tanana River near Fairbanks on Tuesday, Alaska State Troopers said.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
“It's just so hard to let it go. I mean, everyone is telling me, ‘you have to move on,’ but I know someone is not here [anymore]. So I don't know how I will move on." That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.
NASA hears from Voyager 1, the most distant spacecraft from Earth, after months of quiet
NASA has finally heard back from Voyager 1 again in a way that makes sense. The most distant spacecraft from Earth hadn't sent home any understandable data since last November.
Saskatchewan households will continue to receive carbon tax rebate: Trudeau
Households in Saskatchewan will continue to receive Canada Carbon Rebate payments, despite the province refusing to remit the federal carbon price on natural gas, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday.