methane Archives | Alberta Farmer Express

File photo of domestic hogs on a German farm. (FooTToo/iStock/Getty Images)

EU farmers could get cash to curb emissions from belching livestock

By Kate Abnett, GFM Network News January 15, 2021

Brussels | Reuters — Farmers should get European Union funding to reduce methane emissions from livestock or increase organic farmland, the European Commission said on Thursday, under plans to make agriculture greener. The EU is nearing the end of a two-year battle to overhaul its massive farming subsidies scheme, to attempt to align the agriculture […] Read more

A rendition, by Genitique, of the planned biomethanization plant to be built at Warwick, about 65 km southeast of Trois-Rivieres. (Groupe CNW/Energir)

Dairy Cattle, Livestock, Machinery & Shop

Quebec ag co-op to power up on dairy cattle manure

By GFM Staff December 16, 2019

About a dozen Quebec dairy farms will be getting their collective manure together next year for the province’s first-ever ag co-operative devoted to renewable natural gas. Coop Agri-Energie Warwick, launched Monday, plans to start construction this spring on a $12 million biomethanization plant which will take in slurry and manure from dairy cattle mixed with […] Read more

News

Gases in well water can be a risk, says provincial water engineer

Oxygen, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, methane and hydrogen sulphide occur naturally in some aquifers

By Alberta Agriculture and Forestry November 27, 2019

Reading Time: 2 minutes Gases in water wells can be a danger on farms and rural properties, says a provincial agricultural water engineer. Gases can occur naturally in water wells, dissolving in the water while under pressure and then being released when water is pumped out of the well. “Sometimes people complain about the smell, but the gases you […] Read more

(Promotional video screengrab via DSM.com)

Livestock, Reuters, Weather

Chemical firm sees strong demand for methane-reducing feed additive

By Bart H. Meijer September 30, 2019

Amsterdam | Reuters — Dutch specialty chemicals company DSM is expecting strong demand for a feed additive which limits the amount of methane burped into the air by cows, its contribution to the global fight against climate change. Methane has a much larger effect on global warming than carbon dioxide (CO2) and reducing methane emissions […] Read more

Want more environmentally friendly cows? One big way is to do everything you can to ensure they have calves.

Livestock, Pasture

Producers can reduce carbon hoofprint while boosting profitability

By Alexis Kienlen September 5, 2019

Reading Time: 3 minutes If you want to raise more environmentally friendly cows, there are several things you can do, say experts. And make money from doing them. Over the last 30 years, the beef sector has improved efficiency by 15 per cent, but it can still do more to reduce methane emissions, said John Basarab, senior research scientist […] Read more

Two-thirds of greenhouse gases produced by Canadian agriculture comes from beef production,  with methane produced by digestion accounting for a portion of that.

Beef Cattle, Livestock

Feed additive could be a methane game changer

Feed additive that can halve emissions while boosting feed efficiency is now undergoing a large-scale study

By Alexis Kienlen April 30, 2018

Reading Time: 3 minutes There’s pressure on the beef industry to be more sustainable, and some of that pressure falls on scientists like Karen Beauchemin. The Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada ruminant nutritionist and her team at the Lethbridge research station are looking for ways to reduce enteric methane — gas produced when digesting feed — from beef cattle. One […] Read more

Methane emissions from a steer were measured by Agriculture Canada researchers.

Livestock, News

Two feed supplements lower methane emissions

Feeding wheat to dairy and beef cattle also lowered emissions  but the effect was short lived

By Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada April 17, 2018

Reading Time: 2 minutes A recent study has found feed supplements can reduce methane emissions from dairy and beef cattle. Researchers from Canada and Australia conducted the three-year study. “We need to know how feed affects methane production, but we also need to know how it affects other aspects of the farm operation, like daily gains in animals, milk […] Read more

Livestock, Machinery & Shop, Reuters, Weather

California to limit pollutants from diesel exhaust to cow gas

By Sharon Bernstein September 19, 2016

Reuters — California on Monday moved to restrict air pollutants from sources as diverse as diesel trucks and cow flatulence, the latest of several efforts in the most populous U.S. state to reduce emissions leading to climate change. Under a bill signed Monday by Democratic Governor Jerry Brown, the state will cut emissions of methane […] Read more

Tim McAllister has shown the beef industry is reducing its carbon footprint, but more needs to be done, he says.

News

Top scientist challenges beef industry to do better

Yes, anti-meat activists distort the facts, says Tim McAllister —  but ‘there is science that supports their position’

By Alexis Kienlen August 30, 2016

Reading Time: 4 minutes It’s no secret the beef industry is under attack from environmentalists and activists — or that they frequently distort the truth. “They have an agenda that they are trying to gain information to support — they’re looking for things that have gone awry in the industry, and there have been problems,” renowned Alberta cattle researcher […] Read more

Livestock, Machinery & Shop, Weather

Study finds Canadian beef’s GHG footprint shrunk over 30 years

By Alberta Farmer Staff January 11, 2016

Efficiencies in cattle production and feeding have allowed Canada’s beef industry to produce the same weight in beef as 30 years ago with smaller breeding herds, less land — and smaller greenhouse gas (GHG) output, a new study finds. The study, led by research scientist Tim McAllister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Lethbridge, with […] Read more

U.S. grains: Soybeans, corn prices rise after days of losses

U.S. livestock: CME live cattle top three-week high; feeder cattle set contract high

Hemp industry looking forward despite hurdles

GFM Network News