July 11, 2019
Scientists have known for some time that cows release methane into the atmosphere when they burp, they now think that have a solution.
It is believed that a quarter of all the methane in the U.S. comes from cows, so researchers have been investigating ways to reduce the amount of methane they produce. The methane is produces by microbes in the gut of cows, and some microbes produce more methane than others. Many of these microbes are inherited, so by breeding cows that don’t have those inherited traits researchers from the University of Aberdeen believe they will be able to breed low-methane cows.
Previous attempts to reduce methane emissions made by cows have tended to focus on the food the cows eat, so this is a novel approach. By selecting for low-methane cows, that also have favorable traits such as size and milk production, could lead to cows that are better for the environment as well as farmers.
Source: National Geographic
Read more: http://ow.ly/Ngj850uUqLX
