Researchers get $10M to make cows less gassy

A taste for things grassy makes a hungry cow gassy – enough so to warm the world. That’s why climate scientists say it’s vital to study the burps between the “moos,” not to mention the toots out the other end. That’s right: cow belches and flatulence are a serious contributor to climate change.

Now the University of Florida has a $5 million federal grant in hand to figure out how to blunt cow burps that unleash so much heat-trapping methane.

It might sound like the same old hot air about climate change to some, but this realm of science is garnering millions in federal money to answer serious questions about how to temper a cow’s airy ways, scientists say.

As with humans, too much fiber in a cow, and ... well, we all know how that airs out. And scientists say that as worldwide demand for beef keeps rising, so do global temperatures, driven in large part by methane emissions from livestock. That’s why they say it’s so important to find ways to temper bovine belching.

Why am I reading about cow burps?

Both ends of a cow release methane, but NASA and the U.S. Dairy Council say 97% of a cow’s gas is from burps, rather than the other end.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences just awarded UF researcher Nicolas DiLorenzo one of two grants totaling $10 million to reduce livestock methane emissions by adding substances such as enzymes to their feed to ease digestion.

DiLorenzo’s grant is for $5 million and focuses on reducing the amount of methane cows produce.

The work will create livestock feed additives to reduce the amount of methane produced during the digestive process.

What’s the theory of this line of research?

The hypothesis is that healthier cow guts will mean cleaner air, by improving digestion and reducing methane from livestock burps and flatulence. The means of doing that include genetically modifying cows’ plant feed to improve fiber digestion and using enzymes that break down complex carbohydrates found in plant fibers and cell walls.

Nicolas DiLorenzo is an animal sciences professor at UF’s North Florida Research and Education Center in Marianna, Florida. He is heading a multidisciplinary team including livestock nutritionists, chemists and microbiologists, according to a UF news release.

What are methane trends in the atmosphere?

Methane in the atmosphere more than doubled over the past 200 years and accounts for up to 30% of global warming since the Industrial Revolution (1750), according to NASA.

A methane molecule traps more heat than a molecule of carbon dioxide, but methane has a relatively short lifespan of 7 to 12 years in the atmosphere, while carbon dioxide can last hundreds of years.

PROVIDED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA Both ends of a cow release methane, but 97% of a cow’s gas is from burps, rather than the other end.