Understanding more about how methane is generated in the rumen of beef and dairy cattle is the focus of a pan-Canadian research project.
Leluo Guan of the University of British Columbia (UBC) was recently awarded $7.9 million in funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. Guan is the Canada Research Chair in Animal Function Genomics and Microbiome.
Other researchers on the project include her colleagues from UBC, University of Guelph, University of Alberta, University of Manitoba, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) and genetics company Semex.
There are products that will reduce methane in cattle, such as Bovaer and some types of seaweed. But researchers have found that most of the technologies don’t provide a significant improvement in feed efficiency, something that will be of benefit to farmers in return for reducing methane.
That’s sent researchers back to the lab to try to figure out more about the hydrogen cycle in the rumen of beef and dairy cattle.
The answer is likely tied to the flow of hydrogen in the rumen, said Tim McAllister, principal research scientist for cattle production with AAFC.
“All of the stoichiometric equations that we would use to predict energy flow would have predicted that we would have seen that value (improved feed efficiency) in the animal. And we’re very perplexed as to why we haven’t seen that,” he said in an interview.
The five year study will look at the rumen microbiome and the methane-creation processes that happen there, and aims to find technology and management changes that can make rumen function most efficient.
Guan has been conducting research in this area for years.
“We know that rumen microbial fermentation is essential to the growth and development of cattle and that methane formation is a necessary part of that process,” she said in a UBC article. “Rather than trying to stop these processes, we want to reduce the amount of methane they generate. In this study, that means looking at diet, nutrition, management and more.”
Data will be examined from more than 10,000 animals across Canada. Guan hopes to anaylse the data using metagenomic and machine learning analysis.
“By changing the hydrogen flow from being used for methane synthesis to short chain fatty acids production, we can provide more energy sources for cattle and lower the methane at the same time. By targeting the microbes involved in these pathways, we could ultimately to reach a ‘win-win’ situation,” she said.
The project also includes a deep dive into cattle genetics. Guan’s research has shown that rumen microbes can be heritable in beef cattle. University of Guelph research has resulted in the ability of Canadian dairy producers to select for more methane-efficient cows.
Source: Farmtario / John Greig
