Low Methane Cattle

[J+ Cattle]

In the future I expect that governments will regulate cattle producers and the type of cattle we produce based on some sort of a methane tax.

Genetics can determine how much methane cows release when burping and passing gas, researcher says

Cows are responsible for about 40% of global methane emissions.

www.cbsnews.com

We'll have to use genetics for low methane output or face a large tax bill. It's a changing world we live in.

 

[Silver]

So by my math things aren't adding up here. If cows are responsible for 40% of the worlds methane production, and we know ( but nobody ever says anything) that rice production could be responsible for nearly double the amount of methane compared to cattle, that doesn't leave much room for all the methane they say the oil and gas industry is responsible for, let alone all the other sources. Something fishy here. An agenda perhaps?

 

[shaz]

Joel Salatin called it "Urban disease"

We call it "Stupid city people"

 

[Rydero]

The whole agenda targetting farming particularly Livestock/beef is ridiculous. I admittedly don't know a ton about methane emissions but as far as CO2 emissions of ALL farming is like 13%. If you're trying to drastically reduce CO2 emissions why go after half of 13% for food when transportation is 59%? Because the city folk don't want to give up their SUV's???? There were a lot of Buffalo in North America before the cattle were here and emissions weren't an issue a couple hundred years ago. What changed? Cars, planes, power plants. It's obvious... If I don't bulldoze every tree in my pastures to make grain land if I can't cattle farm I imagine the deer and Elk will get pretty thick in a hurry. I'm probably wrong to ignore the BS articles blaming cow farts for climate change and hope when we actually get around to doing something about greenhouse gas emissions we'll adopt something that has a hope of actually working.

 

[shaz]

The whole agenda targetting farming particularly Livestock/beef is ridiculous. I admittedly don't know a ton about methane emissions but as far as CO2 emissions of ALL farming is like 13%. If you're trying to drastically reduce CO2 emissions why go after half of 13% for food when transportation is 59%? Because the city folk don't want to give up their SUV's???? There were a lot of Buffalo in North America before the cattle were here and emissions weren't an issue a couple hundred years ago. What changed? Cars, planes, power plants. It's obvious... If I don't bulldoze every tree in my pastures to make grain land if I can't cattle farm I imagine the deer and Elk will get pretty thick in a hurry. I'm probably wrong to ignore the BS articles blaming cow farts for climate change and hope when we actually get around to doing something about greenhouse gas emissions we'll adopt something that has a hope of actually working.

Don't ignore the B.S. A lie repeated often enough becomes the truth. Remember the low fat craze started by Ancel Keys 50 years ago? We're just now realizing that was garbage and there was never any science to support it but it caused a lot of damage.

 

[J+ Cattle]

True or false doesn't matter, if the politicians believe it and pass legislation against it, then it becomes a reality that we have to deal with.

Does anyone have any low methane bulls for sale? It could be the next fad or EPD coming out

 

[Rydero]

I remain unafraid. They're not doing much aside from flying to conferences and saying they'll do things in 20 years at this point. I know people with bulldozers so if they want to speed the whole thing up they can outlaw beef and I'll grow grain instead. Be careful what you wish for.

 

[wbvs58]

They don't seem to count the carbon that we sequester in our soils and pastures to offset against the methane that the cows make and the cow **** and grazing management is what is putting the carbon into the soil yet there is a developing market selling this carbon to industrial companies to offset their industrial emissions. Am I missing something here, shouldn't this be used against our cows first?
I read a couple of months ago how a central Queensland grazier sold the carbon they had sequestered in their soil to Microsoft so they could balance their carbon ledger.

Ken

 

[Rydero]

They don't seem to count the carbon that we sequester in our soils and pastures to offset against the methane that the cows make and the cow **** and grazing management is what is putting the carbon into the soil yet there is a developing market selling this carbon to industrial companies to offset their industrial emissions. Am I missing something here, shouldn't this be used against our cows first?
I read a couple of months ago how a central Queensland grazier sold the carbon they had sequestered in their soil to Microsoft so they could balance their carbon ledger.

Ken

I've seen calculations where they incorporate the emissions from the grain produced to be consumed by cattle into the cows carbon footprint. Using that logic wouldn't the cows carbon footprint pass to whoever eats it?

That actually solves it...zero emission cattle

 

[Warren Allison]

The whole agenda targeting farming particularly Livestock/beef is ridiculous. I admittedly don't know a ton about methane emissions but as far as CO2 emissions of ALL farming is like 13%. If you're trying to drastically reduce CO2 emissions why go after half of 13% for food when transportation is 59%? Because the city folk don't want to give up their SUV's???? There were a lot of Buffalo in North America before the cattle were here and emissions weren't an issue a couple hundred years ago. What changed? Cars, planes, power plants. It's obvious... If I don't bulldoze every tree in my pastures to make grain land if I can't cattle farm I imagine the deer and Elk will get pretty thick in a hurry. I'm probably wrong to ignore the BS articles blaming cow farts for climate change and hope when we actually get around to doing something about greenhouse gas emissions we'll adopt something that has a hope of actually working.

When Columbus landed in the Bahamas, the bison population here was around 30 million, going to around 350 total in the 1800's, and is now about a half mil. The cattle population in the US is about 94 million. North America, South America, and Australia obviously have a LOT more cattle since the 1800's. But I imagine, the cattle population on the other continents....Africa, Europe, and Asia is a lot lower now than during the age of exploration. So is the population of native bovines, like European and Asian bison, and African Cape buffalo. I would also guess that the mass decline of the great herds of herbivores in Africa, would more than off-set the increase in cattle world-wide. Just another hoax like global warming and the China Virus.

 

[GoWyo]

Cattle do not add net methane to the atmosphere. Methane breaks down in 9-10 years back to CO2 and it is taken in by plants for regrowth. The cattle methane issue is a red herring as far as the carbon-methane cycle is concerned so long as the mass of ruminants on earth stays fairly constant over time.

 

[Buck Randall]

Cattle do not add net methane to the atmosphere. Methane breaks down in 9-10 years back to CO2 and it is taken in by plants for regrowth. The cattle methane issue is a red herring as far as the carbon-methane cycle is concerned so long as the mass of ruminants on earth stays fairly constant over time.

You're exactly right. The problem is that the beef industry has not been well organized in promoting these facts, while the fossil fuel industry has been quick to throw beef under the bus as a distraction.

Cattle producers need to start acknowledging climate change and educating people about the role of cattle in a healthy ecosystem. Nobody else is going to do it for us.

 

[Silver]

You're exactly right. The problem is that the beef industry has not been well organized in promoting these facts, while the fossil fuel industry has been quick to throw beef under the bus as a distraction.

Cattle producers need to start acknowledging climate change and educating people about the role of cattle in a healthy ecosystem. Nobody else is going to do it for us.

Seems like this would be a good place to put some check off dollars in both our countries

 

[faster horses]

Feeding Rumensin cuts down on methane emitted by cattle.

Methane reduction (Animal Science Update) - American Farm Publications

"Feed additives such as Rumensin or Bovatec will also improve fiber digestion and reduce methane, these additives are called ionophores. These don't require special veterinary approval provided they are incorporated in the diet alone and not in combination with a drug that might require approval.
Contact your feed company or veterinarian if you have questions.
These products are approved for use in cows and for some uses in sheep and goats. They will alter patterns of fermentation in the rumen and improve feed efficiency, they may also reduce methane production. They have been in use in ruminant diets since the 1970s.
There are several novel approaches to reducing methane.
The results of a research study showed that the methane inhibitor, 3-nitrooxypropanol or 3-NOP when added to the diet of dairy cows reduced methane emissions by up to 30 percent.
This research, conducted by Alexander Hristov, Ph.D. and colleagues at Pennsylvania State University, also showed that this methane inhibitor did not reduce productivity in high producing dairy cows but led to weight gain in treated cows."

Rumensin is a brand name, owned by Elanco. The product is monensin.

 

[GoWyo]

You're exactly right. The problem is that the beef industry has not been well organized in promoting these facts, while the fossil fuel industry has been quick to throw beef under the bus as a distraction.

Cattle producers need to start acknowledging climate change and educating people about the role of cattle in a healthy ecosystem. Nobody else is going to do it for us.

Dr. Mitloehner is one of the leading researchers working on it. Dr. Sara Place works on this as well. https://www.ksre.k-state.edu/news/s...ture-frank-mitloehner-rethinking-methane.html

In climate change, beef’s not the problem

While attacks on meat consumption continue, claims that ending animal agriculture will fix climate change aren’t based on reality, according to Dr. Sara Place, chief sustainability officer with Elanco.

www.iowafarmbureau.com

 

[shaz]

Seems like this would be a good place to put some check off dollars in both our countries

That's the problem. Our defense has to come from a neutral source.

 

[Silver]

That's the problem. Our defense has to come from a neutral source.

I think the days of neutral source information making it to the people without funding from an agenda driven entity are long gone.

 

[GoWyo]

I think the days of neutral source information making it to the people without funding from an agenda driven entity are long gone.

Hard to find a neutral source any more -- and maybe there never really were before the internet, but we just couldn't tell. NCBA catches a lot of flack, but on this issue they have been taking the lead. https://www.ncba.org/ncba-news/news...-record-urges-open-dialogue-on-methane-target

 

[Ouachita]

If cattle are responsible for 40% of methane, then those darn salad shootin' vegetarians are responsible for the other 90%. They should cut down on the granola and wheatgrass, and eat more processed grass in the form of beef.

 

[Big Creek]

Cattle do not add net methane to the atmosphere. Methane breaks down in 9-10 years back to CO2 and it is taken in by plants for regrowth. The cattle methane issue is a red herring as far as the carbon-methane cycle is concerned so long as the mass of ruminants on earth stays fairly constant over time.

Let's go brandon