Sliced and diced hay makes cows burp greener
Although it's been the butt of many jokes, the fact remains that cow burps and, to a lesser extent, farts do release stinky greenhouse gases. In New Zealand, officials believe that 90% of the nation's methane emissions come from belching livestock. Worldwide, cow belches are thought to account for 5% of total greenhouse emissions. While some scientists have gone the high-tech route to reduce emissions through bovine genetics, others have simply tried switching up their beef's diet. Researchers in the UK have found that a little food prep goes a long way when you're trying to reduce the dreaded bovine indigestion. By adding a relatively small amount of finely-chopped (3" strips) straw and hay to their cows' diet, the scientist were able to reduce their livestock's methane emissions by 20%. Not only that, but the cows were healthier and produced higher milk yields due to their new high-fiber diet. Nice.The main obstacle is that cows don't particularly like the straw, they prefer maize and silage. When mixed in with other, more tasty cow snacks, cows can be coaxed to "take their medicine."
[via Treehugger]
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