Commodities shuttle: Vaca brava emits 40% more methane gas and produces less milk, says Embrapa

Livestock is definitely on the list of the most checked sectors when it comes to methane gas reduction, after the country signed the Global Commitment on Methane, at COP26.

Brazil and a hundred other countries have pledged to reduce by 30%, by 2030, methane gas emissions from landfills, decomposition of organic matter and, mainly, from livestock.

Every study is valid, and the most recent by Embrapa indicates that wild cows produce less milk and emit 40% more enteric fermentation (belch) per kilogram of milk.

The research, conducted by Embrapa Gado de Leite, in Minas Gerais, and by the Federal University of Juiz de Fora (MG), demonstrates that animals that are more aloof from human presence and milking, in addition to generating greater gas emissions, produce less milk.

One of the ways to reduce the emission of methane gas in livestock is to improve the handling of animals and the search for a more efficient system in milk production, according to Mariana Campos, a researcher at Embrapa.

The manifestation of the bravest cows comes through kicking, agitation and slower milking speed. And they expend energy on it.

The calmer ones spend more time ruminating and are calmer during milking, producing more milk, according to the researcher.

For Professor Aline Sant’Anna, from the Federal University of Juiz de Fora, the temperament of animals has a heritable component, but the environmental conditions also interfere with the character of the cows. A calm environment is required during milking.

The reduction of methane gas emissions from dairy cows is already helping to fulfill the agreement. According to IBGE data, the Brazilian herd is 218 million heads of cattle. Of this number, 16.2 million are cows that were milked last year.

Maurício Antônio Lopes, a researcher at Embrapa, claims that livestock is really a problem in methane gas emissions, but that solutions are beginning to emerge for this reduction. And they are necessary because the world’s bovine herd grows year by year.

Data from the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) indicate that the world herd of cattle is 996.5 million heads of cattle and that, in one year, it will reach 1.01 billion.

The Embrapa researcher claims, however, that methane, the new villain of the climate crisis, should not necessarily be seen as a very serious problem, like CO₂.

“In addition to having a short life in the Earth’s atmosphere, from 10 to 12 years — which allows us to manage its contents in a short time and at low costs —, methane is a valuable gas from the point of view of human interest.”

He believes that the climate crisis could sharpen society’s interest in the qualities of methane as a source of energy and raw material for multiple industries. One of these uses, for example, can be the replacement of natural gas, derived from petroleum.

Next year, New Holland will bring a biomethane-powered tractor to market. Through biodigesters, agricultural properties can produce their own fuel, generate electricity and sell any leftovers to the distribution network.

According to New Holland, when using biomethane, the carbon impact of the machine is virtually zero.
Regarding the challenges that cattle ranching will have, as strategies to reduce methane advance, the researcher already sees some solutions.

Greater investments will be needed in genetic improvement to increase productivity and guarantee meat and milk. This evolution allows for the existence of a smaller number of cattle and a reduction in methane emissions.

Lopes also claims that there is evidence of genetic variability for methane emissions. In the future, there will be strains of animals genetically prone to emitting a smaller volume of the gas.

Animal strains of a certain genetic makeup tend to associate with microorganisms that produce less methane when they cause anaerobic fermentation of the rumen.

Another interesting aspect, in Lopes’ assessment, is the possibility of managing the composition of the so-called bovine microbiome, which makes up the huge population of microorganisms that inhabit the rumen and cause the anaerobic fermentation of vegetable matter ingested by cattle, which leads to the emission of methane.

Feed management, for example, with the introduction of feed additives in rations, capable of reducing methane production by inhibiting methanogenic organisms in the rumen.

According to the researcher, DSM, a company dedicated to animal nutrition, recently received approval to market in Brazil a feed additive that reduces methane for ruminants.

When consulted, the DSM informed that it has been carrying out research for ten years in 13 countries and that, placed in the feed of cows (and other ruminants), the additive reduces the emission of enteric methane by approximately 30%.

Research by Embrapa and the Federal University of Juiz de Fora was the basis for Maria Guilhermina Pedroza’s doctoral thesis on biodiversity and nature conservation.