Today, the flurry of corporate goals and global pledges depict the urgency to reduce GHG emissions in line with the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius. Methane reduction is a useful target in that ambition because while it is a short-lived greenhouse gas, methane is potent when it’s in the atmosphere. Because of this, there is an opportunity for faster climate impact if we can reduce methane emissions.
Global Category Lead – Sustainability in Ruminants
Cargill Animal Nutrition
In the face of a growing global population and the challenges posed by climate change, ensuring sustainable food production is a pressing concern. Farmers are evaluating sustainable agricultural practices that can both support the long-term viability of their business and drive lasting change for the future of animal agriculture.
When it comes to methane reduction, one of the most widely discussed sustainability issues in animal agriculture, Cargill’s Animal Nutrition & Health enterprise encourages taking a holistic approach to uncover the potential of farmers and nutrition to do more with less, ensuring food security while protecting the planet.
METHANE: AN INCREASINGLY IMPORTANT TARGET IN THE FIGHT AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
The scientific community is working diligently to study methane emissions across the beef and dairy lifecycle. Those in animal agriculture are presented with both a responsibility and an opportunity, as livestock represent 15% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.i Data show that both the dairy and beef industries have made significant strides in production efficiency. Take the U.S. dairy industry for example, where a gallon of milk in 2017 had a 19% smaller carbon footprint than it did in 2007.ii This progress is commendable but, interestingly, those previous efforts were not focused on methane – but instead methane mitigation was a byproduct of increasing production efficiency.
Today, the flurry of corporate goals and global pledges depict the urgency to reduce GHG emissions in line with the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius. Methane reduction is a useful target in that ambition because while it is a short-lived greenhouse gas, methane is potent when it’s in the atmosphere. Because of this, there is an opportunity for faster climate impact if we can reduce methane emissions. While methane emissions from the enteric fermentation of cattle are a normal occurrence, we must recognize there’s plenty of opportunity to reduce the intensity of methane, which still accounts for nearly half of the carbon footprint of meat and milk. The feed industry can accelerate progress in the right direction by improving feed conversion rates, optimizing animal health, and innovating new additives and nutrition solutions that reduce methane and nitrogen emissions.
METHANE REDUCTION STARTS WITH MANAGING ON-FARM PRODUCTIVITY
We must partner with producers to measure and define their efficiency or total output, which is a critical driver of farm and ranch sustainability. By understanding total methane emissions in relation to ruminant product output, producers can start to identify potential efficiencies that can support enhanced on-farm sustainability.
The next steps can include diet formulation to optimize nutritional resources, core nutrition solutions to improve feed utilization, or additives to enhance feed efficiency and productivity.
At Cargill, our MAX™ system is a valuable solution provides insights to producers, helping them predict and understand enteric methane emissions and efficiency. By identifying reduction opportunities and creating action plans, producers can drive sustainability on their operations and benchmark their progress. The platform also enables validation of predicted performance, allowing farmers to make data-driven decisions for profitability and sustainability – which we believe is a vital part of ensuring that more farmers can adopt sustainability solutions. Farmers can turn to productivity solutions such as Diamond V™ XPC™ which supports immune function, digestive health, and performance in cattle, which contributes to increased production efficiency, reducing methane emissions in the process.
DIRECT METHANE MITIGATION
To get to a gross methane reduction, the feed industry is looking at ways to target the rumen’s microbial population to inhibit the production of methane at the source. The industry is also investing in research to find innovative solutions for direct methane mitigation. One example is SilvAir™, a nutrition solution approved for use in the European Union that lowers enteric methane production by up to 10% while maintaining milk production and performance.iii
SilvAir incorporates calcium nitrate, a research-proven technology with over 10 years of scientific backing. This solution not only reduces methane emissions but also has the potential to replace some dietary protein and calcium, offering cost advantages for producers.
The effectiveness of SilvAir to reduce methane emissions without compromising production and performance is supported by more than 25 peer-reviewed studies published in independent scientific journals.
THE OPPORTUNITY FOR THE FUTURE
Ultimately, methane reduction will play an important role in reaching climate goals and will be an increasingly important factor to consider as you run your dairy or beef operation in the future. It’s essential that our industry provides support to producers on this journey. Just like previous progress made by the industry, it’s not one technology that holds the answer. It’s the incremental improvements that make a difference. We’re committed to exploring all the potential solutions with the No. 1 criteria being it must make sense for the farmer and their business.
iFAO 2013, Tackling Climate Change through Livestock: A global assessment of emissions and reduction opportunities.
iiJudith L Capper, Roger A Cady, The effects of improved performance in the U.S. dairy cattle industry on environmental impacts between 2007 and 2017, Journal of Animal Science, Volume 98, Issue 1, January 2020, skz291, https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/skz291
iiiFeng XY, Dijkstra J, Bannink A, van Gastelen S, France J, Kebreab E. Antimethanogenic effects of nitrate supplementation in cattle: A metaanalysis. Journal of Dairy Science. 2020;103(12):11375–11385. doi:10.3168/jds.2020-18541
About Joanne Sharpe
Joanne Sharpe is Global Category Lead for Sustainability in Ruminants for Cargill Animal Nutrition. She joined Cargill in 2016, first with the UK team and soon moved to the European team in a strategic marketing role in the ruminant nutrition business, where she was instrumental in the development and launch of SilvAir in Europe. In her current role she works with Cargill teams across the globe to facilitate the implementation of ruminant sustainability technologies and activities and help drive new developments in this space.
Prior to Cargill, Joanne had over twenty years’ experience in the animal health and veterinary industries, holding positions in operations, business development and marketing. Her education includes a BSc(Hons) Agriculture with Animal Science and an MBA, both from Harper Adams University. Outside work, Joanne maintains a strong connection with her farming roots; through involvement with the family dairy farm and also she has a small flock of pedigree Suffolk sheep.
