Feed Additives Put the Brakes on Cattle Methane Emissions
17/03/2021 - 8 minutes
Research into how feed additives interact with the gut microbiome of cattle is paving the way towards a new strategy to tackle one of the main contributors to global warming.
Feeding over seven billion people comes with a massive carbon footprint. The agriculture sector demands the clearing of large areas of forests. Unsustainable agricultural practices such as monoculture, indiscriminate use of agrochemicals, and soil tilling contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. To add to it, food transportation or storage further generate emissions. However, the biggest culprit is a seemingly innocent one. It is cattle burping out methane a greenhouse gas that stays in the atmosphere for much less time than carbon dioxide, but contributes more to global warming.