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Manipulating Enteric Methane Emissions and Animal Performance of Late-Lactation Dairy Cows Through Concentrate Supplementation at Pasture

¹ Department of Animal Science and
² Department of Statistics, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

Corresponding author: F. P. O’Mara; e-mail: frank.omara{at}ucd.ie.

The objective of this study was to determine the potential of increased fiber-based concentrates to reduce methane (CH₄) production in relation to milk yield from late-lactation dairy cows. The effect of 2 levels of concentrate supplementation (0.87 vs. 5.24 kg on a dry matter basis) on herbage voluntary intake, total dry matter intake, milk yield, milk composition, and CH₄ production were determined by way of a randomized block designed grazing trial using lactating Holstein-Friesian cows (231 ± 44 d in milk) grazing a mixed-grass sward with a regrowth aged 36 d.

Increased concentrate supplementation resulted in a significant increase in total dry matter intake, milk yield, fat-corrected milk (FCM) yield, and daily CH₄ production. However, herbage intake and milk composition were unaffected. Although daily CH₄ production increased with fibrous concentrate use the increase was not as great as that observed for milk yield. The decline in CH₄ production per kilogram of milk was nonsignificant; however, when relating CH₄ production to FCM(FCM at 35 g of fat/kg of milk), a declining trend was identified within increasing concentrate supplementation (19.26 and 16.02 g of CH₄/kg of FCM). These results suggest that increased fibrous concentrate use at pasture, even at modest levels, could reduce enteric CH₄ production per kilogram of animal product. However, the effectiveness of such a strategy is dependent on the maintenance of production quotas and a subsequent decline in the number of livestock needed to fulfill the specified production level.

Key Words: enteric fermentation • methane • concentrate supplementation • pasture

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