A Government science company has cracked a major problem in reducing methane emissions from cattle - but the technology is owned by Japanese companies, a livestock website reports.
AgResearch's contract science provider, AgResearch Services, has developed a novel cattle feed that reduces the amount of methane gas emittedby cows for two Japanese businesses, giant trading conglomerate Marubeni Corp, of Tokyo, and feed producer Emeral Japan.
Methane is a far more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide as a factor affecting global warming and ruminants release methane gas equivalent to 1.9 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide each year, around 8 per cent of human-related emissions.
But in New Zealand, methane and nitrous oxide from farms make up nearly half the nation's greenhouse gas emissions.
Though the New Zealand Government has given farmers a free ride until 2013 in terms of having to pay for their farm emissions, Marubeni considers livestock methane emissions will become important in the future, and expects to start selling its low-methane cattle feed in 2010.
Most New Zealand cattle graze on pasture rather than grain-based diets common on feedlots in the Northern Hemisphere.
The new feed contains micro-organisms that aid digestion and intestinal regulation, and tests have confirmed it can reduce methane emitted by cattle by 10 per cent.
Marubeni has formed a consortium to further develop the cattle feed, improve its ability to reduce methane generation and develop a formulation that can be efficiently ingested.
