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California Dairy Farmers are Saving Money—and Cutting Methane Emissions—By Feeding Cows Leftovers

By Pam Knox 

If you’re a dairy farmer, feeding leftovers or scraps to cows is nothing new. As long as you keep their diets well balanced, cows can eat a surprising variety of things and stay healthy. But feeding leftovers to cattle also provides another benefit–it reduces food waste, one of the biggest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. Here is a recent story about California dairies’ use of almond hulls, spent grains, and other leftover food to cut methane emissions by diverting edible food products out of landfills, where they produce methane as they decompose. You can read it at Inside Climate News here.

California Dairy Farmers are Saving Money—and Cutting Methane Emissions—By Feeding Cows Leftovers

Source : uga.edu

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Measuring Methane Emissions From Cattle with Unique Technologies

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PhD Student Madison Kindberg, and Air Quality Specialist and Professor, Dr. Frank Mitloehner explain the unique Cattle Pen Enclosures and how they will capture emissions from cattle using state of the art technology. The enclosures are well equipped with one-way airflow fans, smart scales, and smart feeds that can tell you what an animal ate, when they ate and how much they ate. All enclosures are connected to one mobile air quality lab which uses gas monitors and analyzers to collect precision data. This data will be used to determine if an early-life methane reducing bolus can reduce emissions from cattle long-term.