$25 MILLION PLEDGED FOR STUDY OF COW FARTS AND BURPS IN BILL MANCHIN HELPED PASS

The Democratic climate and healthcare bill includes $25 million to combat enteric emissions produced by cows and farm animals, largely through burps and manure.

The $369 billion Inflation Reduction Act announced by Senate Democrats this week includes funding to address “enteric methane emissions from ruminants,” including by finding alternatives to the animals’ diets, according to the text of the bill.

Cows and other farm animals produce roughly 14% of human-induced climate emissions.

Agricultural researchers have developed a bevy of new methods for reducing enteric methane emissions, including filtering masks for cow noses and feed additives — both synthetic and natural.

Farm Bill Politics
Cows and other farm animals produce roughly 14% of human-induced climate emissions.
Toby Talbot/AP

One feed supplement developed by Dutch bioscience company BSM reduced methane emissions in dairy cows by 30% and in beef cattle by 80%

Meanwhile, a study published last spring by University of California, Davis researchers found that introducing seaweed into cattle feed can reduce methane emissions from beef cattle by as much as 82%. “We now have sound evidence that seaweed in cattle diet is effective at reducing greenhouse gases and that the efficacy does not diminish over time,” said Ermias Kebreab, professor and chairman of the Department of Animal Science and director of the World Food Center.

Still, none of these feed additives have been approved for use in the United States. “Nobody knows how long it’s going to take,” Kebreab told Inside Climate News last month. “We are a long way away from that at the moment.”



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Last Edited by Coastie Patriot on 08/02/2022 09:03 AM