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Advances and Challenges in Tackling Livestock Methane Production

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A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Animal Nutrition".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2022) | Viewed by 22973

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Matteo Crovetto

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Guest Editor

Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
Interests: forage evaluation; methane emission; N excretion; energy balance; dairy cows; pigs
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Byeng Ryel Min

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Guest Editor

Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Tuskegee University, Tuskegee, AL, USA
Interests: applied animal nutritional strategies; sustainable meat production

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Livestock production sustainability is presently imperative. Among the different environmental impacts, global warming is considered the most dangerous, and methane emission from animals and slurries plays a significant role. Different nutritional and feeding techniques, as well as appropriate management of slurries, can be adopted to reduce methane emission. However, milk and meat production must not be hampered, given the increasing demand for food of animal origin worldwide. Hence, the challenge is to maintain milk and meat yield with a reduction in methane emission. Scientists are invited to provide contributions on the matter, for different animal species and livestock production systems.

Prof. Dr. Matteo Crovetto
Dr. Min Byeng-Ryel
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

methane emission
ruminants
sustainability
global warming
GHG

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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11 pages, 1116 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Relationship between Reticulorumen Parameters Measured in Real Time and Methane Emission and Heat Stress Risk in Dairy Cows

by Ramūnas Antanaitis, Lina Anskienė, Eglė Rapaliutė, Ronaldas Bilskis, Karina Džermeikaitė, Dovilė Bačėninaitė, Violeta Juškienė, Remigijus Juška and Edita Meškinytė

Animals 2022, 12(23), 3257; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12233257 - 23 Nov 2022

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2158

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate a connection between CH₄ emissions and reticulorumen pH and temperature. During the experiment, we registered the following parameters: reticulorumen pH (pH), reticulorumen temperature (RR temp.), reticulorumen temperature without drinking cycles, ambient temperature, ambient relative humidity, cow activity, heat index, temperature–humidity index (THI), and methane emissions (CH₄). The experimental animals were divided into two groups based on the reticulorumen pH: 1. pH < 6.22 and 2. pH 6.22–6.42. We found that cows assigned to the second pH class had higher (46.18%) average values for methane emissions (p < 0.01). For the other indicators, higher average values were detected in cows of the first pH class, RR temperature (2.80%), relative humidity (20.96%), temperature–humidity index (2.47%) (p < 0.01), and temperature (3.93%) (p < 0.05), which were higher compared to cows of the second pH class. Reticulorumen pH was highly negatively correlated with THI and temperature (r = −0.667 to 0.717, p < 0.001) and somewhat negatively with heat index, relative humidity, and RR temperature (r = −0.536, p < 0.001; r = −0.471 to 0.456, p < 0.01). Cows with a higher risk of heat stress had a higher risk of lower reticulorumen pH. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances and Challenges in Tackling Livestock Methane Production)

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Review

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22 pages, 1223 KiB

Open AccessReview

Global Warming and Dairy Cattle: How to Control and Reduce Methane Emission

by Dovilė Bačėninaitė, Karina Džermeikaitė and Ramūnas Antanaitis

Animals 2022, 12(19), 2687; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12192687 - 6 Oct 2022

Cited by 20 | Viewed by 14081

Abstract

Agriculture produces greenhouse gases. Methane is a result of manure degradation and microbial fermentation in the rumen. Reduced CH₄ emissions will slow climate change and reduce greenhouse gas concentrations. This review compiled studies to evaluate the best ways to decrease methane emissions. Longer rumination times reduce methane emissions and milk methane. Other studies have not found this. Increasing propionate and reducing acetate and butyrate in the rumen can reduce hydrogen equivalents that would otherwise be transferred to methanogenesis. Diet can reduce methane emissions. Grain lowers rumen pH, increases propionate production, and decreases CH₄ yield. Methane generation per unit of energy-corrected milk yield reduces with a higher-energy diet. Bioactive bromoform discovered in the red seaweed Asparagopsis taxiformis reduces livestock intestinal methane output by inhibiting its production. Essential oils, tannins, saponins, and flavonoids are anti-methanogenic. While it is true that plant extracts can assist in reducing methane emissions, it is crucial to remember to source and produce plants in a sustainable manner. Minimal lipid supplementation can reduce methane output by 20%, increasing energy density and animal productivity. Selecting low- CH₄ cows may lower GHG emissions. These findings can lead to additional research to completely understand the impacts of methanogenesis suppression on rumen fermentation and post-absorptive metabolism, which could improve animal productivity and efficiency. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances and Challenges in Tackling Livestock Methane Production)

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27 pages, 3832 KiB

Open AccessReview

Enteric Methane Emissions and Animal Performance in Dairy and Beef Cattle Production: Strategies, Opportunities, and Impact of Reducing Emissions

by Byeng-Ryel Min, Seul Lee, Hyunjung Jung, Daniel N. Miller and Rui Chen

Animals 2022, 12(8), 948; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12080948 - 7 Apr 2022

Cited by 16 | Viewed by 6014

Abstract

Enteric methane (CH₄) emissions produced by microbial fermentation in the rumen resulting in the emission of greenhouse gases (GHG) into the atmosphere. The GHG emissions reduction from the livestock industry can be attained by increasing production efficiency and improving feed efficiency, by lowering the emission intensity of production, or by combining the two. In this work, information was compiled from peer-reviewed studies to analyze CH₄ emissions calculated per unit of milk production, energy-corrected milk (ECM), average daily gain (ADG), dry matter intake (DMI), and gross energy intake (GEI), and related emissions to rumen fermentation profiles (volatile fatty acids [VFA], hydrogen [H₂]) and microflora activities in the rumen of beef and dairy cattle. For dairy cattle, there was a positive correlation (p < 0.001) between CH₄ emissions and DMI (R² = 0.44), milk production (R² = 0.37; p < 0.001), ECM (R² = 0.46), GEI (R² = 0.50), and acetate/propionate (A/P) ratio (R² = 0.45). For beef cattle, CH₄ emissions were positively correlated (p < 0.05–0.001) with DMI (R² = 0.37) and GEI (R² = 0.74). Additionally, the ADG (R² = 0.19; p < 0.01) and A/P ratio (R² = 0.15; p < 0.05) were significantly associated with CH₄ emission in beef steers. This information may lead to cost-effective methods to reduce enteric CH₄ production from cattle. We conclude that enteric CH₄ emissions per unit of ECM, GEI, and ADG, as well as rumen fermentation profiles, show great potential for estimating enteric CH₄ emissions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances and Challenges in Tackling Livestock Methane Production)

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