Reducing The Methane Cows Produce

Various methods are being proposed for reducing the amount of methane that cows produce. So far, none of them have been able to scale-up cost effectively.

One idea is to add bags to the noses of cows, to collect some methane there, which sounds potentially unpleasant for the cows.

The most promising ideas involve changing what the cows eat…

Seaweed

Cows grazing near the coast naturally eat seaweed (there are cows eating seaweed on Nantucket Island in Moby Dick), and it’s both very beneficial for their health and reduces the amount of methane they produce.

The methane-reducing effect isn’t huge: they need a huge 20% seaweed diet to get a 50% reduction in methane, which isn’t practical on a global scale… but it’s something.

Red Algae

Some researchers have discovered that if we feed cows a diet including a small amount of a certain red algae, we can achieve a 99% reduction in methane production.

This sounds amazing (and it is!), and Greener Grazing are working to scale up.

#NoBeef encourages any beef farmers reading this that aren’t willing to move out of beef to get in touch with Greener Grazing.