Methane emissions and feeding behaviour of feedlot cattle supplemented with nitrate or urea

2014 ◽  
Vol 54 (10) ◽  
pp. 1737 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. I. Velazco ◽  
D. J. Cottle ◽  
R. S. Hegarty

Nitrate may serve as a non-protein nitrogen (NPN) source in ruminant diets while also reducing enteric methane emissions. A study was undertaken to quantify methane emissions of cattle when nitrate replaced urea in a high concentrate diet. Twenty Angus steers were allocated to two treatment groups and acclimated to one of two iso-energetic and iso-nitrogenous finisher rations (containing NPN as urea or as calcium nitrate), with all individual feeding events recorded. A single methane measurement device (C-lock Inc., Rapid City, SD, USA) was exchanged weekly between treatments (2 × 1-week periods per treatment) to provide estimations of daily methane production (DMP; g CH4/day). A 17% reduction in estimated DMP (P = 0.071) resulted from nitrate feeding, attributed to both a tendency for reduced dry matter intake (DMI; P = 0.088) and H2 capture by the consumed nitrate. NO3-fed cattle consumed a larger number of meals (14.69 vs 7.39 meals/day; P < 0.05) of smaller size (0.770 vs 1.820 kg/meal) each day, so the average interval between a feeding event and methane measurement was less in NO3-fed cattle (3.44 vs 5.15 h; P < 0.05). This difference could potentially have skewed the estimated DMP and contributed to the tendency (P = 0.06) for NO3-fed cattle to have a higher methane yield (g CH4/kg DMI) than urea-fed cattle. This study found short-term methane emission measurements made over 2 weeks (per treatment group) were adequate to show dietary nitrate tended to reduce emission and change the feeding pattern of feedlot cattle. Changes in feeding frequency may have confounded the ability of short-term methane measurements to provide data suitable for accurately estimating methane per unit feed intake.

2006 ◽  
Vol 86 (3) ◽  
pp. 401-408 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen A Beauchemin ◽  
Sean M McGinn

A study was conducted to determine whether enteric methane (CH4) emissions from growing feedlot cattle fed backgrounding diets based on barley silage could be reduced through grain supplementation. A second objective was to determine the effects of feed intake on CH4 emissions. Eight Angus beef heifers (initial and final body weight, 328 ± 28 and 430 ± 29 kg) were used. The experiment was designed as a split-plot crossover with two diets and two 8-week periods. The main plot was the diet [dry matter (DM) basis]: high forage (70% barley silage, 30% barley-based concentrate) or high grain (30% barley silage, 70% corn-based concentrate). The sub-plot was the feeding level: unrestricted (ad libitum feed intake, 5% orts) or restricted (65% of ad libitum intake) feed intake. Methane emissions were measured during each sub-plot over 3 d using whole animal chambers. Changing the forage to concentrate ratio and substituting barley for corn did not affect CH4 emissions (141.5 g d-1; P = 0.26), and the average emission was about 10% higher than the emission calculated using the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Tier 1 approach. Methane conversion rate was also similar for both diets [6.23% of gross energy intake (GEI), P = 0.29], and was similar to the value of 6.0 used in the IPCC Tier 2 approach to calculating CH4 emissions from cattle. Restricting intake reduced CH4 emissions (169 vs. 114 g d-1; P < 0.002), with the reduction in CH4 proportional to the decline in intake. Level of intake relative to maintenance energy requirements was moderately inversely related (r = -0.30; P = 0.04) to CH4 (% GEI). The proportion of GEI lost as CH4 declined by 0.77 percentage units per unit increase in level of intake above maintenance. This study shows that supplementing barley-silage-based diets with corn grain to increase diet quality has only small effects on reducing CH4 emissions. In contrast, maximizing feed intake above maintenance energy requirements increases daily CH4 emissions, but improves efficiency of CH4 conversion because CH4, as a percentage of GEI, declined. Thus, feeding cattle for maximum gain is an important CH4 mitigation strategy for the cattle industry as it reduces the proportion of feed energy lost as CH4 each day, as well as, reduces the number of days to market and associated CH4 production. Key words: Cattle, methane, greenhouse gasses


2021 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Naomi Cristina Meister ◽  
Abmael da Silva Cardoso ◽  
Fernando Oliveira Alari ◽  
Nailson Lima Santos Lemos ◽  
Rosa Toyoko Shiraishi Frighetto ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 99 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Raghavendra G Amachawadi ◽  
Wesley A Tom ◽  
Michael P Hays ◽  
Samodha C Fernando ◽  
Philip R Hardwidge ◽  
...  

Abstract Liver abscesses in feedlot cattle are polymicrobial infections. Culture-based studies have identified Fusobacterium necrophorum as the primary causative agent, but a number of other bacterial species are frequently isolated. The incidence of liver abscesses is highly variable and is affected by a number of factors, including cattle type. Holstein steers raised for beef production have a higher incidence than crossbred feedlot cattle. Tylosin is the commonly used antimicrobial feed additive to reduce the incidence of liver abscesses. The objective of this study was to utilize 16S ribosomal RNA amplicon sequence analyses to analyze the bacterial community composition of purulent material of liver abscesses of crossbred cattle (n = 24) and Holstein steers (n = 24), each fed finishing diet with or without tylosin. DNA was extracted and the V3 and V4 regions of the 16S rRNA gene were amplified, sequenced, and analyzed. The minimum, mean, and maximum sequence reads per sample were 996, 177,070, and 877,770, respectively, across all the liver abscess samples. Sequence analyses identified 5 phyla, 14 families, 98 genera, and 102 amplicon sequence variants (ASV) in the 4 treatment groups. The dominant phyla identified were Fusobacteria (52% of total reads) and Proteobacteria (33%). Of the top 25 genera identified, 17 genera were Gram negative and 8 were Gram positive. The top 3 genera, which accounted for 75% of the total reads, in the order of abundance, were Fusobacterium, Pseudomonas, and Bacteroides. The relative abundance, expressed as percent of total reads, of phyla, family, and genera did not differ (P &gt; 0.05) between the 4 treatment groups. Generic richness and evenness, determined by Shannon–Weiner and Simpson’s diversity indices, respectively, did not differ between the groups. The UniFrac distance matrices data revealed no clustering of the ASV indicating variance between the samples within each treatment group. Co-occurrence network analysis at the genus level indicated a strong association of Fusobacterium with 15 other genera, and not all of them have been previously isolated from liver abscesses. In conclusion, the culture-independent method identified the bacterial composition of liver abscesses as predominantly Gram negative and Fusobacterium as the dominant genus, followed by Pseudomonas. The bacterial community composition did not differ between crossbred and Holstein steers fed finishing diets with or without tylosin.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinfeng Chang ◽  
Shushi Peng ◽  
Philippe Ciais ◽  
Marielle Saunois ◽  
Shree R. S. Dangal ◽  
...  

2016 ◽  
Vol 56 (3) ◽  
pp. 451 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuezhao Sun ◽  
David Pacheco ◽  
Dongwen Luo

A series of experiments was conducted in New Zealand to evaluate the potential of forage brassicas for mitigation of enteric methane emissions. Experiments involved sheep and cattle fed winter and summer varieties of brassica forage crops. In the sheep-feeding trials, it was demonstrated that several species of forage brassicas can result, to a varying degree, in a lower methane yield (g methane per kg of DM intake) than does ryegrass pasture. Pure forage rape fed as a winter crop resulted in 37% lower methane yields than did pasture. Increasing the proportion of forage rape in the diet of sheep fed pasture linearly decreased methane yield. Feeding forage rape to cattle also resulted in 44% lower methane yield than did feeding pasture. In conclusion, reductions in methane emission are achievable by feeding forage brassicas, especially winter forage rape, to sheep and cattle. Investigating other aspects of these crops is warranted to establish their value as a viable mitigation tool in pastoral farming.


2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
J. M. Moorby ◽  
H. R. Fleming ◽  
V. J. Theobald ◽  
M. D. Fraser

1969 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. P. Milligan ◽  
A. R. Robblee ◽  
J. C. Wood ◽  
W. C. Kay ◽  
S. K. Chakrabartty

The preparation of a polymer of urea and furfural containing 23.2% nitrogen is described. This product was converted by rumen microorganisms in vitro to ammonia at a rate approximately one-seventh that of conversion of urea to ammonia. Use of the polymer as a dietary supplement in a feeding trial with lambs improved nitrogen retention over that of unsupplemented controls by 3.45 g of nitrogen retained per day, while an isonitrogenous quantity of supplemental urea improved nitrogen retention by 0.51 g of nitrogen retained per day. The blood urea pattern, throughout the day, of lambs adapted to control, urea-supplemented and urea–furfural polymer-supplemented rations indicated a slow, prolonged production of ammonia from the latter supplement and very rapid, short-term degradation of urea in vivo.


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