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Assessing the Potential of Diverse Forage Mixtures to Reduce Enteric Methane Emissions In Vitro
Cecilia Loza1, Supriya Verma1, Siegfried Wolffram2
1Institute of Plant Production and Plant Breeding, Grass and Forage Science/Organic Agriculture, Kiel University (CAU), 24118 Kiel, Germany.
Animals : an Open Access Journal From MDPI
|April 30, 2021
Summary
Adding specific plants to ryegrass pastures can significantly reduce methane emissions from ruminants. Certain legume and herb mixtures show the most promise for lowering greenhouse gases in livestock farming.
Area of Science:
- Agricultural Science
- Animal Science
- Environmental Science
Background:
- Ruminant livestock are a significant source of agricultural greenhouse gas emissions, primarily methane.
- Reducing methane emissions from livestock is crucial for mitigating climate change.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the methane reduction potential of binary forage mixtures with ryegrass.
- To determine if plant specialized metabolites (PSM) in certain forages influence methane reduction.
- To assess the dose-response relationship and year-to-year consistency of methane reduction effects.
Main Methods:
- In vitro incubation of binary forage mixtures with varying proportions of eight different species and *Lolium perenne* (ryegrass).
- Measurement of methane production and forage digestibility.
- Analysis of methane reduction across different species, proportions, and sampling years.
Main Results:
- All tested dicotyledonous species reduced methane production compared to ryegrass monocultures.
- Tannin-rich species (*Sanguisorba minor*, *Lotus pedunculatus*) demonstrated the highest methane reduction (up to 33%).
- Methane reduction was not always linear with increasing proportions of the partner species; optimal reduction occurred around 67.5% legume/herb inclusion.
Conclusions:
- Incorporating specific dicot forages, especially tannin-rich species, into ruminant diets offers a viable strategy for methane emission reduction.
- The methane reduction potential is influenced by forage composition and inclusion level, with non-linear effects observed.
- While methane reduction varied between sampling years, the ranking of species for methane reduction potential remained consistent.
