What are some of the best practices for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from livestock?

Adding products to feed works when ruminants are fed unnatural feeds. Adding them to growing grass and herbs may cause complications if the sward is providing these benefits already. I doubt that many farmers can afford to use dietary supplements without optimizing the ration to age weight and gender. This was taught in agricultural colleges in the UK 50 years ago.

To reduce greenhouse gas emissions from livestock, best practices include improving production efficiency through better breeding and feeding strategies, which allow for more output with fewer resources. Utilizing feed additives can lower methane production during digestion. Effective manure management, such as composting and anaerobic digestion, helps minimize methane and nitrous oxide emissions. Implementing pasture-based systems allows for better nutrient recycling and reduces the need for stored manure, which can produce methane. Additionally, diversifying livestock systems enhances resilience and supports ecosystem services. Together, these practices can significantly reduce emissions while promoting sustainable livestock production.

Manure Management: ? Anaerobic digestion: Capture methane from manure through anaerobic digestion, which can be used to generate biogas for energy or as a fertilizers. ? Manure spreading: Spread manure on fields in a way that minimizes nutrient loss and emissions. This includes applying it at the optimal time and spreading it evenly. ? Precision livestock farming: Utilize sensors and technology to monitor animal health, feed intake, and environmental conditions, allowing for better management practices and improved resource use. ? Reduce transportation: Optimize transport routes and minimize the distance animals are transported, reducing fuel consumption and emissions.

Feeding the animals their natural food is the best way to ensure that emissions are within the natural limits. For example, feeding ruminants animal proteins will guarantee abnormal emissions, aside from causing all trouble in terms of animal health and quality of animal products. Incorporating livestock with crops in the same farm is the only way that allows the continuous supply of natural food in an economically efficient way.

Improving livestock feed quality and quantity is crucial for reducing GHG emissions. Adding feed additives like enzymes, probiotics, or tannins can boost rumen function and cut methane production. Including protein- and fiber-rich legumes, forages, or by-products can enhance nitrogen use efficiency and lower nitrous oxide emissions. Also, tailoring feed intake and rations to the animals' age, weight, breed, and production stage can prevent overfeeding and waste. These strategies collectively reduce methane and nitrous oxide emissions from enteric fermentation and manure.

Manure management is the most effective way to reduce GHG emission from livestock. By management, I mean managing the whole process of collecting, storing and composting the manure. Compost made with manure and plant residues is very valuable and rich, is a must for enriching soil and is a great organic replacement for synthetic fertilizers.

Good points here about industrial uses of manure, though flaring of methane, presumably to convert it to CO2 seems like a backward step. Storing it in aitight tanks seems impractical for small farms and difficult and potentially dangerous on the biggest units. ( There have already been pollution events when big tanks leak and fatalities from fumes during maintenance work.) However applying slurry soon after production in the middle of winter is associated with nutrient leaching and pollution events, and is banned in NVZs. Traditionally cattle were bedded on straw in the winter, and to my mind the resulting compost is the best way of dealing with the problem, except for large daury herds.

Proper manure management is vital for cutting GHG emissions from livestock. Manure, a valuable source of organic fertilizer, biogas, and compost, can emit methane and nitrous oxide if mismanaged. To reduce this, collect and store manure in airtight containers to capture methane for energy or flaring. Applying manure to soil quickly minimizes anaerobic decomposition and GHG emissions. Composting manure with crop residues or bedding can stabilize carbon and nitrogen, further reducing emissions.

Biomethane technology is an important answer for lowering greenhouse gas emissions from cattle. By incorporating anaerobic digestion systems, organic waste is transformed into biomethane, reducing methane emissions by up to 90%. This not only reduces environmental effect, but also capitalizes on a burgeoning industry expected to reach $2.7 billion by 2025. Biomethane is a renewable energy source that increases energy security and generates new money for farmers. Overall, it is beneficial to both agriculture's sustainability and economic growth.

Implement rotational grazing to optimise pasture growth and carbon sequestration, reducing methane emissions. Introduce grass species that are high in sugar content, which can lower methane production during digestion. Employ holistic management practices that mimic natural grazing patterns, improving soil health and increasing its carbon storage capacity. Utilise legumes and deep-rooted plants in pastures to enhance soil structure and organic matter, leading to better carbon capture. Implement agroforestry practices, integrating trees into pastures, which can provide shade, improve land use efficiency, and sequester carbon. Encourage dietary supplements for livestock.

This sounds like a recommendation to take heed of Professor Martin Jones's recommendations for rotational grazing in 1932. Or the Agricultural College orthodoxy of the 1970s. Understanding the difference between stocking rate and grazing pressure and getting the right balance between the two us vital. Integrating trees into grazing systems has to be done with care, as the shade provided by trees atrracts livestock and biting insects to the same place and can cause risk to animals's health and risk of physical injury if one or more animals react suddenly to a bite. There is also a danger of poaching of the sward in shaded areas. In drought conditions tree's demand for water can kill large areas of grass. But who doesn't love trees?

Grazing management significantly impacts GHG emissions, soil health, biodiversity, and water quality. Sustainable practices can boost soil carbon sequestration and nutrient cycling, reduce erosion and compaction, and improve pasture quality and animal welfare. Rotating grazing areas and resting pastures allow grasses and legumes to recover, increasing soil organic matter and carbon storage. Properly managing stocking density and grazing intensity prevents overgrazing and undergrazing, balancing forage supply and demand. Integrating trees, shrubs, or crops into grazing systems diversifies feed sources, offers shade and shelter, and enhances carbon sequestration and biodiversity.

Any stress caused to livestock is also potentially dangerous to those who look after them. When an animal is a significant proportion of or heavier than it carer, you want the animal to come to you happily and confidently. An animal that is afraid is difficult to manage and is potentially dangerous. Handling frightened animals is time consuming and the wait stresses the rest of the group who might be waiting to be dosed. In hot conditions that can be a health risk to other animals. And fear in a herd or flock can be infectious For all these reasons a lot of thought is put into the design of handling systems and training a good system minimises the stresses that can lead to poor performance over a life.

Animal health and welfare are key to reducing GHG emissions from livestock. Ensuring adequate water, shelter, ventilation, and hygiene reduces stress, disease, and mortality. Preventive measures like vaccination, deworming, and biosecurity protect animals from parasites and pathogens. Humane practices, such as castration, dehorning, and euthanasia, minimize pain and suffering. By maintaining animal well-being, emissions per unit of product can be lowered.

Genetic improvement effectively reduces GHG emissions from livestock by enhancing performance, efficiency, and adaptability. Selecting and breeding animals with traits like high milk yield, lean meat, or low methane emission boosts productivity and cuts environmental impact. Methods include artificial insemination, embryo transfer, and genetic markers to spread and identify superior genes. Participating in breeding programs or cooperatives provides access to genetic resources and services. Preserving genetic diversity and local breeds ensures animals remain resilient and suited to various conditions and challenges.

The last paragraph is the most sensible. While it makes good commercial sense to breed for current conditions too much emphasis on this leads to a narrowing of the genetic base and long term unviability. While I agree with breeding that contributes to a reductkon in climate change, it is only too obvious that breeding for lean meat has done great damage. Animals that have no subcutaneous fat, cannot survive outdoors during cold winters and therefore must be housed and fed on climate damaging artificial diets. The science behind the demand for low fat meat in human diets has largely been discredited, but we are still left with a fashion for it, and with animals that need housing.

Including regenerative agricultural techniques, such as keeping soil covered, proper maintenance of farm machinery, use of living roots, and true integration of livestock into the functioning of an agricultural system contribute to the health of the whole system; thereby reducing GHG emissions in agricultural systems. Moreover, biodiversity and species-richness in pasture land is an important part of a well-functioning ecosystem and form a basis for building soil health, nutrition and resiliency in grazing systems.

As a remote sensing and GIS expert, I reduce greenhouse gas emissions from livestock by using satellite imagery and remote sensing data to monitor pasture health and optimize grazing patterns, maintaining soil carbon levels and reducing methane emissions. I integrate GIS with sensor data for precision agriculture, optimizing livestock diets to minimize methane production. I also identify and manage manure hotspots using GIS tools to design systems that capture and utilize methane. Additionally, I map vegetation and soil types to recommend afforestation efforts, and I use GIS to track and promote sustainable practices among farmers, providing data-driven insights to demonstrate environmental and economic benefits.

Farming is highly dependent on latitude, altitude, geology, soil type, micro climate, previous cropping, access to infrastructure and many other factors. No two farms are alike. So there are few rules that can be applied universally. This paper seems to think that universal rules and recommendations for farming are sensible and therefore looks extremely naive. It also seems to be written in ignorance of quite a lot of agricultural science which has been accumulating steadily since 1843.