Bovine belching... and climate change?

According to The New York Times, your cows are part of one of the most serious problems the United Nations is facing today. With milk and beef production expected to double in the next 30 years, cows might end up adding more methane to the atmosphere than cars and trucks combined. Just one cow, in one year, can produce 200 to 400 pounds of methane, a potent greenhouse gas with extremely high global warming potential. The majority of a cow’s methane excretion is through belching.

While Dairy Management, Inc., reports that the dairy industry accounts for only 2 percent of the United States emissions of heat-trapping gas, it’s the threat of consumer viewpoint that is driving our industry to reduce its emissions. Dairy Management’s Erin Fitzgerald told The New York Times that the dairy industry wants to avoid consumers equating dairies with coal plants. Thus, the ‘Cow of the Future’ program started in an effort to reduce dairy industry emissions 25 percent by 2020.

Stonyfield Farm, the popular yogurt manufacturer, has already implemented a program at the Vermont farms which provide the company with organic milk. Since January, 15 farms throughout Vermont have adjusted their ration from corn and soy-based grains to plants such as alfalfa and flaxseed. The plant feeds are high in Omega-3 fatty acids which help the digestive tract operate smoothly, rather than corn and soy which have a different fatty acid structure.

Farms that have participated in the program have seen healthier, more robust animals with better functioning digestive tracts and a significant reduction in methane. One of the farmers in the program reduced methane emission by over 18 percent while still maintaining milk production.

The idea of using plant feeds was provided by Groupe Danone, the French manufacturers of Dannon yogurt and Evian bottled water, who are invested in Stonyfield Farm. France has seen even better results, reducing emissions by nearly 30 percent on both organic and large industrial farms.