J. Dairy Sci. 97:3231–3261 http://dx.doi.org/10.3168/jds.2013-7234
© American Dairy Science Association®, 2014.
Invited review: Enteric methane in dairy cattle production: Quantifying the opportunities and impact of reducing emissions
J. R. Knapp,*1 G. L. Laur,† P. A. Vadas,‡ W. P. Weiss,§ and J. M. Tricarico#
*Fox Hollow Consulting LLC, Columbus, OH 43201
†Gwinn-Sawyer Veterinary Clinic, Gwinn, MI 49841
‡USDA Agricultural Research Service Forage Research Center, Madison, WI 53706
§Department of Animal Sciences, The Ohio State University, Wooster 44691
#Innovation Center for US Dairy, Rosemont, IL 60018
ABSTRACT
Many opportunities exist to reduce enteric methane (CH4) and other greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per unit of product from ruminant livestock. Research over the past century in genetics, animal health, microbiol- ogy, nutrition, and physiology has led to improvements in dairy production where intensively managed farms have GHG emissions as low as 1 kg of CO2 equivalents (CO2e)/kg of energy-corrected milk (ECM), compared with >7 kg of CO2e/kg of ECM in extensive systems. The objectives of this review are to evaluate options that have been demonstrated to mitigate enteric CH4 emissions per unit of ECM (CH4/ECM) from dairy cattle on a quantitative basis and in a sustained man- ner and to integrate approaches in genetics, feeding and nutrition, physiology, and health to emphasize why herd productivity, not individual animal productivity, is important to environmental sustainability. A nutri- tion model based on carbohydrate digestion was used to evaluate the effect of feeding and nutrition strate- gies on CH4/ECM, and a meta-analysis was conducted to quantify the effects of lipid supplementation on CH4/ECM. A second model combining herd structure dynamics and production level was used to estimate the effect of genetic and management strategies that increase milk yield and reduce culling on CH4/ECM. Some of these approaches discussed require further research, but many could be implemented now. Past efforts in CH4 mitigation have largely focused on identifying and evaluating CH4 mitigation approaches based on nutrition, feeding, and modifications of ru- men function. Nutrition and feeding approaches may be able to reduce CH4/ECM by 2.5 to 15%, whereas rumen modifiers have had very little success in terms of sustained CH4 reductions without compromising milk production. More significant reductions of 15 to 30%
Received July 6, 2013. Accepted February 28, 2014.
1 Corresponding author: joanne.r.knapp@gmail.com
CH4/ECM can be achieved by combinations of genetic and management approaches, including improvements in heat abatement, disease and fertility management, performance-enhancing technologies, and facility design to increase feed efficiency and life-time productivity of individual animals and herds. Many of the approaches discussed are only partially additive, and all approaches to reducing enteric CH4 emissions should consider the economic impacts on farm profitability and the rela- tionships between enteric CH4 and other GHG.
Key words: enteric methane, methanogen, feed ef- ficiency, lifetime productivity, mitigation
INTRODUCTION
Methane and Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Methane (CH4), carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O), and halocarbons are greenhouse gases (GHG) that enhance the effects of solar and thermal radiation on surface and atmospheric temperatures and are often expressed on a CO2-equivalent (CO2e) basis. Often, different and confusing bases are used in expressing the proportions of GHG and CH4 emissions from livestock agriculture (Lassey, 2008). Although enteric CH4 gen- erated in the gastrointestinal tract of livestock is the single largest source of anthropogenic CH4 (Figure 1a), it is a lesser proportion of anthropogenic GHG emis- sions (Figure 1b). Methane has several natural sources (termites, wetlands, peat bogs, ocean sediments, and wildlife) and man-made sources (natural gas produc- tion, coal mining, wastewater treatment, landfills, and agriculture; Figure 1a; Lassey, 2008). Anthropogenic sources account for approximately 58% of total global CH4 emissions (Figure 1a; EPA, 2010, 2011a).
In “Livestock’s Long Shadow,” the Food and Agricul-
ture Organization of the United Nations (Steinfeld et al., 2006) stated that global livestock agriculture was re- sponsible for 18% of the anthropogenic GHG emissions annually. Since then, several groups have rebutted that report and provided reduced estimates of the impact of
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Figure 1. (a) Estimated proportion of global CH4 emissions from natural and anthropogenic sources. Sources comprising 1% or less are not shown and include wild animals, wildfires, permafrost, and anthropogenic stationary and mobile sources. More uncertainty exists in estimates of CH4 emissions from natural than from anthropogenic sources [data from EPA (2010) and EPA (2011a)]. (b) Global greenhouse gas (GHG) anthropogenic emissions by sector, with CH4 and N2O on a CO2-equivalent (CO2e) basis. Agriculture combined with land use change accounts for
22% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Deforestation accounts for 10.3% and fossil fuel utilization accounts for 1.4% of CO2 released; biogenic CO2 is not included [data from analysis by Ecofys (2013)]. (c) The 5 countries and regions with the largest livestock-associated enteric CH4 emis- sions on a million-metric-tonne (Mt)-of-CO2e basis. In the United States, 95% of enteric CH4 arises from ruminant livestock (EPA, 2011b); this proportion can be assumed for other countries, although the contributions from beef versus dairy operations will vary. Manure CH4 is emitted by storage systems where anaerobic fermentation occurs. Manure CH4 and N2O can be from either ruminant or nonruminant livestock operations [data source: EPA (2011a)]. EU 27 = European Union countries.
livestock agriculture on GHG emissions (Pitesky et al.,
2009; EPA, 2011a; Petherick, 2012). Land use change (for example, converting forest or permanent pasture to annual crops) contributes a significant portion and, when combined with existing agriculture, accounts for 14 to 22% of global anthropogenic GHG emissions (Figure 1b; Shafer et al., 2011; Ecofys, 2013), although some analyses attribute little land use change to dairy production (Gerber et al., 2013; Golub et al., 2013). Approximately 37% of global agricultural CH4 and N2O arise from direct animal and manure emissions, and the remainder is associated with cropping and deforestation (EPA, 2011a). On a world-wide basis, dairy animals, in- cluding cull cows and beef cattle from dairy breeds, are estimated to contribute only 4% to anthropogenic GHG emissions (FAO, 2010). In many developed countries, the contribution of dairy production to GHG emissions is estimated even lower, due to the higher productivity of livestock agriculture, the dilution by emissions from other sectors, and lack of significant land use change (Hagemann et al., 2011). In the European Union 15, beef and dairy cattle are estimated to contribute 2.1 and 1.2%, respectively (EEA, 2011), to anthropogenic GHG inventories, and in the United States, all live- stock (including nonruminants) and dairy cattle are estimated to contribute 2.75 and 0.55%, respectively, to anthropogenic GHG emissions (EPA, 2011b). However, in developed countries where pastoral agriculture is a significant portion of the economy (e.g., Ireland and New Zealand) or developing countries with large cattle populations (e.g., Brazil and India), ruminant livestock can be a very large contributor to the national GHG inventory (FAO, 2010).
Examining CH4 emissions from livestock agriculture as a proportion of total anthropogenic GHG emis- sions in a given country or region can be misleading. Methane emissions are a function of the population of ruminant animals, their level of production, and the associated manure-handling systems. Thus, the countries or regions with the largest cattle popula- tions in the world contribute the most to global ag- ricultural CH4 emissions on a million-metric-tonne basis (metric tonnes of CO2e; Figure 1c). Why should the dairy industry in any country be concerned about CH4 emissions? First, international policy discussions have focused on non-CO2 emissions such as CH4 and N2O because they are less expensive to mitigate than CO2 emissions (EPA, 2006; FAO, 2010; Shafer et al.,
2011; Gerber et al., 2013). Often, CH4 mitigation ap-
proaches can be economically advantageous as well as
environmentally beneficial. Second, because the CO2 emitted by livestock, including dairy cattle, arises from metabolism of plant-derived feedstuffs, it is viewed as part of a continuous biological cycle of fixation, uti-
lization, and exhalation. Accordingly, it is defined as biogenic CO2 and livestock are considered to be a zero net source of CO2 (Pitesky et al., 2009). Third, enteric and manure CH4 comprise more than 40% of the GHG emissions associated with fluid milk production in the United States (Thoma et al., 2013). Last, some retail- ers and consumers in both domestic and international markets are concerned about the contribution of GHG emissions to the carbon footprint of foods. Ruminant livestock will play a crucial role in future global food security because far more grazing land exists, unusable for human food, than cropping land (Gill et al., 2010
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