Cattle and Methane - The Untold Story.
The Science Behind Cattle Emissions.
Rumen Fermentation 101
The natural digestive process in ruminants like cattle, goats, sheep, and deer allow those animals to take a low nutritious product like forage and turn it into a high-quality food source. All animals need a very specific profile of nutrient building blocks to grow and maintain basic cellular functions.
Think of Lego set. Without all the shapes and sizes, you would be very limited in the types of structures you can build. The same holds true with fundamental nutrients. Forage does not provide all the basic building blocks needed to create a whole animal. BUT with the help of microbes and fermentation, that forage is converted to the whole spectrum of basic building blocks.
“...the system will never favor a complete shift away from methane production. The system is hard wired to want to produce methane. This is why I cringe when I see claims like ‘eliminate methane.’ ”
Role of Microbes
As mentioned above, microbes are the stars of the show in ruminant digestion. Not dissimilar to the process of fermenting beer, various microbes take forage and ferment it in the large stomach chamber called the rumen (hence the name ruminants). The animal then absorbs the fermentation by-products as the nutrients needed for growth and maintenance. It’s a true symbiotic relationship between cow and microbe.
The rumen contains many different microbial species that create a complex living ecosystem within the gut of cattle and other ruminants. Scientifically, the microbes are grouped together into functional units based on their role in their ecosystem. This is important because the byproduct of one group tends to be crucial for another group. This interrelatedness helps produce the whole spectrum of needed nutrients for the ruminant.
Methane as a Byproduct: Why Methane is a Critical Piece of the Rumen System.
So where does methane fit into this highly complex and interrelated rumen ecosystem? We’re going to get a little technical here, but I promise you, this is important. Rumen fermentation is an example of anaerobic fermentation – meaning zero oxygen. Why is this important? Well, in other types of cellular respiration (how cells make energy), oxygen acts as the electron acceptor.
Ok, I’m going to use a money analogy here. Electrons are the money (the currency). Think of cells as a person trying to buy something and that something is energy (ATP). Cells take their electrons (the money) and “buy” ATP – the energy of the cells. Oxygen usually acts as the wallet that holds the currency (the electrons). But without oxygen as in the case of anerobic fermentation, that ecosystem needed a different kind of wallet to hold their money (electrons). So instead of oxygen, some rumen microbes use di-hydrogen (H2) as their wallet.
Here is the importance of methane producing bacteria. They take the H2 wallet, extract the electrons to create their ATP, join the H2 with carbon dioxide, and release methane. The methane volatizes and is belched out into the environment thus maintaining the energy balance of the rumen. For a more scientific explanation of this phenomenon, here’s an article.
Like any robust system, there are secondary pathways that also utilize H2 that don’t rely on methane. For example, acetogens use electrons to produce acetic acid. Acetic acid is used by the animal as a nutrient building block and a source of energy. It stands to reason that if we can influence the microbial population to produce less methane and more acetate, then we can nudge the system towards growth or milk production.
BUT I want to be clear, these are secondary pathways, and therefore the system will NEVER favor a complete shift away from methane production. The system is hard wired to WANT to produce methane. This is why I cringe when I see claims like ‘eliminate methane.’ Personally, I do not think it is possible.
The Beauty of Ruminants.
By utilizing anaerobic fermentation, ruminants can take low quality forage and convert it to a usable substrate for growth, milk production, and maintenance processes. This is especially important for humans because there are places in the world that are not suitable for growing crops for human consumption. By utilizing ruminants in those areas, we can provide a complete protein for the human food supply chain.
“We must stop placing the burdens of the world on the shoulders of farmers, ranchers, and producers. They cannot simultaneously feed the growing population, right the wrongs of plundering the earth’s natural resources and thrive financially...”
Contextualizing Cattle’s Methane Contribution
The Bigger Picture: Methane vs Carbon Dioxide.
There is a complexity here between methane and carbon dioxide that must be discussed when thinking about why cattle are being (unduly) targeted for their role in global warming. Carbon dioxide makes up roughly 81% of the total greenhouse gas emissions, while methane contributes roughly 10%. BUT when looking at their global warming potential (GWP), methane is 28x more potent than carbon dioxide over 100 years or 84x more potent than CO2 over a 20-year period. This means that by targeting methane emissions today, we could see an impact on global warming IN OUR LIFETIME. This is important. Targeting carbon dioxide emissions is important and necessary but it has a much longer term impact.
Debunking the Blame: Cattle Aren’t Super Emitters.
Ok, so methane is important. Cattle are bad. WRONG! Let’s break down the numbers a bit more. As discussed above, methane only accounts for 10% of total greenhouse gas emissions. So, let’s zoom into that 10%. Of that 10%, oil and natural gas contribute 24% and enteric fermentation (methane production from ruminants) contribute to 27%.
Now let’s zoom into that 27% of enteric fermentation. 55% of that 27% represent non-dairy cattle, 18% represent dairy cattle, and the remaining 27% represent other ruminants according to this website. I would argue those numbers are loose and obviously don’t include wild animals like deer.
So, when people are talking about the catastrophic effects that cattle have on the environment, please remember we are talking about 73% of 27% of 10% (which is about 2%). I’m going to repeat that again. We are only talking about 2% of the greenhouse gas emissions come from beef and dairy cattle.
Dual Truths: Methane is Potent AND Cattle are Just One Tiny Piece of the Puzzle.
We need to balance the importance of reducing methane while recognizing that enteric methane is just one piece of the puzzle. To me, we are spending an imbalanced proportion of money trying to tackle the cattle problem. We need a multi-facetted approach to global warming, and we need to make sure that not one group takes on too much blame. We must make sure that lobbyists and other groups with deep pockets don’t sway legislation and public perception towards groups that aren’t as unified and rich.
“We must stop placing unbalanced blame on cattle producers for their participation in global warming.”
Targeting Methane Reduction: What Really Works?
Economic Realities for Farmers.
I’m going to be direct: the financial situation in agriculture is bad. Record low corn and soybean prices, environmental pressures, and high interest rates are causing major hurdles for farming enterprises. Farmers, ranchers, and producers CANNOT bear the burden of global warming. They do not have the financial means to do so.
We MUST stop asking farmers to take on the cost of methane reducing technologies without some incentive to their top or bottom line. And NO the carbon market is NOT a source of stable income for such products (more on this another time).
Now with that out of the way, what is on the market that proves effective?
Real-World Diets and Methane
Diet is the number one indicator of methane production in cattle. There are a lot of other factors that can be altered to reduce methane production, but diet is the number one contributor. That means if we alter the diet, we can alter methane production. Diets lower in fiber and higher in carbohydrates produce less methane. Examples of high fiber diets include pasture and dry cow total mixed ration (TMR). Examples of high carbohydrate diets include high producing dairy cattle TMRs and diets for feedlot beef.
Current Technologies and Strategies.
There are a few major methane-reducing feed additives on the market like BovaerTM and various brands of red micro-algae. Bovaer blocks the biochemical pathway inside cell of methane producing archaea-bacteria. The red mico-algae contain bromoform that prevent B12 from binding with a key enzyme in the methane biochemical pathway.
Bovaer is now commercially available in the US through exclusive distribution rights by Elanco. The red seaweed (micro-algae) is not yet commercially available, but there are a handful of commercial operations developing that supply chain.
There are a few companies developing microbial feed additives, which in my opinion offer the best feed additive solution. By influencing the microbial population to favor the non-methane electron sink (see above), we can hopefully sway the outputs to favor energy to the animal versus energy into methane. I also believe that by focusing on rumen health, we can indirectly decrease methane by targeting a more holistic approach to gut health.
Some non-feed related strategies being developed are vaccinations, selective breeding, and physical barriers. Some are more feasible than others, in my opinion.
Other than the microbial feed additives, none of the above solutions mentioned provide any kind of production benefit. There is ZERO economic incentive for producers to incorporate these technologies or strategies into their operation. Which brings me back to farmers, ranchers, and producers CANNOT bear the burden of global warming. And NO, carbon markets are NOT the answer.
Niche Solutions: One-size Doesn’t Fit All.
Which brings me to my last topic – finding your niche in this space. This is a complex problem that will take targeted solutions. We MUST stop creating blanket products that claim to target all bovines globally. Your total addressable market is not 1.5 billion head of cattle (even though that number makes your product look highly likely to succeed). A pasture raised beef steer is completely different than a first lactation dairy cow. Management systems in the US are drastically different than management systems in the European Union. And so on.
What this industry needs are robust and dedicated partners in Food and Beverage that are willing to put their money where their mouths are. We need very specific and targeted tools that producers can quickly deploy in their operations with little to no barrier (price, application, timing, etc.).
The time is now to create farmer-first technologies with common-sense go to market strategies. We must stop placing the burdens of the world on the shoulders of farmers, ranchers, and producers. They cannot simultaneously feed the growing population, right the wrongs of plundering the earth’s natural resources and thrive financially and psychologically in their vocation.
We must stop placing unbalanced blame on cattle producers for their participation in global warming. I believe this is all possible when food and beverage companies, science, and agriculture come together to create products that make sense to all three. If this sounds appealing, please reach out. I’d love to connect on LinkedIn or through email.
If you’d like more on this topic, I gave a short one-hour seminar with a group of agriculturists or agriculture-adjacent professionals. You can find the link by clicking here or watching below.
