The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has announced new scientific advancements in feed additives to reduce livestock methane emissions.
The department said that these additives were tested in indoor beef systems, but also have the potential for use in pasture-based systems.
The research, the findings of which were announced today (Monday, October 23) also demonstrated significant potential for slurry additives to inhibit and reduce emissions from manure storage.
The research project, which is titled ‘Meth-Abate’, is supported by €1.248 million in funding from both the Department of Agriculture, as well as Northern Ireland’s Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA).
The research is led by Prof. Sinead Waters of Teagasc and Prof. Vincent O’Flaherty at the University of Galway, who work with Northern Irish partners from Queen’s University Belfast and the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI).
The project, which began in 2019, demonstrated that a new ruminant feed additive can reduce methane emissions by 28% in indoor beef cattle systems.
The research is now progressing to further validate this and to investigate the potential for it to be formulated in pellet form or as a bolus for longer-lasting effects to facilitate application in pasture-based production systems, the department said.
The research also showed that a 30% reduction in indoor methane emissions could be achieved through a pasture-based diet with the inclusion of the dietary supplementation 3-Nitrooxypropanol (3-NOP).
Furthermore, a reduction of greater than 80% in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from long-term storage of liquid manures could be achieved through a new oxidising slurry additive.
Further research and demonstration trials are ongoing to test its use in Irish systems.
Commenting on these findings, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue said: “We know that methane accounts for the majority of Irelands agricultural greenhouse gases, mainly from livestock but also stored slurries and manures. We also know the importance of our ruminant farming sector to the economy and to rural Ireland.
“Suffice to say this research demonstrating the potential of feed and manure additives to reduce emissions from livestock farming is very welcome.
“Further research, funded by my department, is underway to move this technology from being successful in an indoor system to being successful and utilisable in our world-renowned outdoor pasture-based system,” Minister McConalogue added.
Minister of State Martin Heydon, who has responsibility for research and development at the department, commented: “I am a firm believer that science and innovation can provide the solutions we need to reduce emissions of our food production in Ireland.
“Feed and manure additives have the potential to play a significant part in this. This collaborative work bringing together both north and south, and with industry, is to be highly commended,” Minister Heydon added.
Prof. Sinead Waters said that the findings announced today are promising.
“We have demonstrated that dietary supplementation in an Irish indoor beef system can significantly reduce methane emissions from several feed additives. While research continues on the effectiveness of these additives for pasture-based systems, we are excited at the preliminary results coming from our work,” Prof. Waters commented.
These finding come ahead of a “major” conference on agriculture and climate change at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin next month.
The event will take place on November 15, and, according to the department, will have a strong scientific focus, with the aim of bringing stakeholders up to date on recent Irish and international research to reduce GHG emissions from the sector.