{"id":1682305,"date":"2022-10-10T18:54:11","date_gmt":"2022-10-10T22:54:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1682305"},"modified":"2022-10-10T18:54:21","modified_gmt":"2022-10-10T22:54:21","slug":"on-new-zealand-farm-scientists-reduce-cow-burps-to-save-the-world-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/on-new-zealand-farm-scientists-reduce-cow-burps-to-save-the-world-3\/","title":{"rendered":"On New Zealand farm, scientists reduce cow burps to save the world"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fon-new-zealand-farm-scientists-reduce-cow-burps-to-save-the-world-3%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1682305&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>By Lucy Craymer<\/p>\n<p>PALMERSTON NORTH, New Zealand (Reuters) -More than a dozen calves wait at a research farm in New Zealand to be fed Kowbucha, a punnily named probiotic that studies show reduces burps \u2014 or methane emissions.<\/p>\n<p>The Kowbucha powder is blended into a milk-like drink fed to the calves at the Massey University farm in Palmerston North.<\/p>\n<p>The regular feeds are part of a series of trials being carried out by New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra since 2021 to gauge how effective the probiotic is in reducing methane emissions. New Zealand has pledged to cut biogenic methane emissions by 10% on 2017 levels by 2030 and by up to 47% by 2050. <\/p>\n<p>The \u201ctrue eureka moment\u201d came when early trials suggested that calves emit up to 20% less methane when they receive the probiotic supplement, said Shalome Bassett, principal scientist at Fonterra Research and Development Centre.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cProbiotics are great because they\u2019re a really natural solution,\u201d Bassett told Reuters. \u201cWhatever we do, it has to be something that\u2019s easy for the farmer to use, has to be cost effective, and we have to ensure that it\u2019s good for the cow and doesn\u2019t have any effect on the milk.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ongoing trials have shown similar, promising results, she said. If that continues, Fonterra hopes to have Kowbucha sachets  in stores by the end of 2024, Bassett said, before farmers have to start paying for animal burps. <\/p>\n<p>Fonterra said it did not yet have any pricing information for the sachets.<\/p>\n<p>Some feed additives available abroad have proved to be more efficient. Royal DSM\u2019s Bovaer feed additive can reduce methane emissions by 30% in dairy cows and by more in beef cattle. <\/p>\n<p>Fonterra said Kowbucha likely provides an easier solution generally as farmers only have to feed it to calves when they are being reared, given it is expected to have a lasting impact. <\/p>\n<p>BURP PRICING<\/p>\n<p>New Zealand will in 2025 become the first country to price agricultural emissions, including methane emissions from burping cows and sheep, whose digestive systems produce methane when breaking down vegetation. Agricultural emissions account for around half of the country\u2019s greenhouse gas emissions. <\/p>\n<p>Ahead of that, farmers, businesses and scientists are working on ways to cut emissions without reducing herd number, given agricultural products make up more than 75% of the country\u2019s goods exports.<\/p>\n<p>As well as the early optimism around Kowbucha, AgResearch scientists said in December they had successfully bred low-methane producing sheep, while a product called EcoPond that almost eradicates methane in farm sewage has been on sale since late 2021.<\/p>\n<p>New Zealand is also considering whether supplements that have had success abroad can be adapted locally. Much of the science overseas focuses on altering barn animals\u2019 food and is harder to implement in a country where animals largely live outdoors and eat grass.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe easiest way to reduce emissions is to reduce production or have less animals basically, so that\u2019s a real challenge when we\u2019re trying to also produce food and keep our export returns at the level that we want them,\u201d said ANZ agricultural economist Susan Kilsby.<\/p>\n<p>Ahead of 2025, the government has released a proposal where biogenic methane and long-lived gases will be priced separately but those prices will be set by the government.<\/p>\n<p>While pricing farm emissions is not universally popular, many believe it is the push farmers need to reduce them.<\/p>\n<p>Mike Manning, general manager of innovation and strategy at  agricultural cooperative Ravensdown, said farmers have been slow to adopt its EcoPond technology without financial incentives.<\/p>\n<p>The system cuts up to 99% of the methane emitted from the manure-sludge left behind in a dairy shed after milking. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople go \u2018well, I might wait until I have a price of methane then I have a financial driver\u2019,\u201d Manning added.<\/p>\n<p>RESEARCH<\/p>\n<p>New Zealand\u2019s government said in May it would spend NZ$380 million ($213.22 million) on research over four years to counter agricultural emissions.<\/p>\n<p>The cash injection may accelerate research and get some emerging technologies into the hands of farmers and growers \u201cmuch earlier\u201d said Sinead Leahy, principal science advisor at government-funded Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre. <\/p>\n<p>A lot of research is already under way.<\/p>\n<p>After discovering that some sheep naturally produce less methane than others, AgResearch headquartered in Hamilton bred sheep with this inheritable trait with one another and found that the lowest emitting sheep produced close to 13% less methane than the highest emitters.<\/p>\n<p>If such breeding were to be carried out on a national level, it could reduce New Zealand\u2019s methane emissions by up to 1%, said AgResearch.<\/p>\n<p>The dairy industry is now looking at how to apply that research to cows, Leahy said.<\/p>\n<p>For Fonterra, research also remains key as it aims to cap farm emissions at 2015 levels. In addition to Kowbucha, it is also trialling other feed additives and seaweed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s definitely important for us to be leading in this space. Our farmers need a solution and New Zealand needs a solution,\u201d said Bassett. <\/p>\n<p>($1 = 1.7822 New Zealand dollars)<\/p>\n<p> (Reporting by Lucy Craymer; Editing by Ana Nicolaci da Costa)<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.oann.com\/uncategorized\/on-new-zealand-farm\/attachment\/file-photo-cattle-feed-in-a-field-in-golden-bay\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/tagreuters.com2022binary_LYNXMPEI990X7-BASEIMAGE.jpg\" alt=\"tagreuters.com2022binary_LYNXMPEI990X7-BASEIMAGE\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Lucy Craymer PALMERSTON NORTH, New Zealand (Reuters) -More than a dozen calves wait at a research farm in New Zealand to be fed Kowbucha, a punnily named probiotic that<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":1889662,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1682305","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_finder_url":"https:\/\/www.oann.com\/uncategorized\/on-new-zealand-farm\/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=on-new-zealand-farm","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1682305","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/66"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1682305"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1682305\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1889662"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1682305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1682305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1682305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}