A scientist studying livestock emissions says adding supplements to cattle feed will only have a short term effect.
Livestock sustainability consultant Dr Jude Capper, who did her greenhouse gas research at Cornell University in the United States, says a cow’s stomach will adjust to changes in diet, and soon return to producing the same amount of methane as before.
She delivered her findings to a national dairy conference at Camden west of Sydney.
Dr Capper says Australia’s tests on waste from wine grapes (grape marc) and oilseed in cattle feed showed they work only for a few weeks.
“Long term, the rumen has a tendency to return to normal no matter what you do to it,” she said.
How has Man survived the millenia without “livestock sustainability consultants?”
Reading the article, she sounds like she has her feet on the ground. I just don’t get the title.
Livestock researchers couldn’t get government funding for animal feed conversion efficiency work, so, “livestock methane emission reduction” research was born, allowing access to “greenhouse reduction” funding. Suppressing populations of anaerobic microfauna, which also produce methane, improves the animal’s feed conversion efficiency. However, feed supplements do not alter the rumen environment for long and populations of methane-producing anaerobic microfauna rebuild quickly, hence the title.
Ahhh . . . “livestock sustainability consultant” pays $20,000 more a year than “livestock researcher.”