A Longitudinal Study with a Laser Methane Detector (LMD) Highlighting Lactation Cycle-Related Differences in Methane...

Reversing climate change requires broad, cohesive, and strategic plans for the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions from animal farming. The implementation and evaluation of such plans demand accurate and accessible methods for monitoring on-field CH₄ concentration in eructating breath. Therefore, this paper describes a longitudinal study over six months, aiming to test a protocol using a laser methane detector (LMD) to monitor CH₄ emissions in semi-extensive dairy farm systems. Over 10 time points, CH₄ measurements were performed in dry (late gestation) and lactating cows at an Azorean dairy farm. Methane traits including CH₄ concentration related to eructation (E_CH4) and respiration (R_CH₄), and eructation events, were automatically computed from CH₄ measured values using algorithms created for peak detection and analysis. Daily CH₄ emission was estimated from each profile's mean CH₄ concentration (MEAN_CH₄). Data were analyzed using a linear mixed model, including breed, lactation stage, and parity as fixed effects, and cow (subject) and time point as random effects. The results showed that Holsteins had higher E_CH₄ than Jersey cows (p < 0.001). Although a breed-related trend was found in daily CH₄ emission (p = 0.060), it was not significant when normalized to daily milk yield (p > 0.05). Methane emissions were lower in dry than in lactation cows (p < 0.05) and increased with the advancement of the lactation, even when normalizing it to daily milk yield (p < 0.05). Primiparous cows had lower daily CH₄ emissions related to R_ CH₄ compared to multiparous (p < 0.001). This allowed the identification of periods of higher CH₄ emissions within the milk production cycle of dairy cows, and thus, the opportunity to tailor mitigation strategies accordingly.