Belching Cows a Threat to Global Climate

What’s black and white and twenty times as bad for the environment as a gas-guzzling SUV?

A dairy cow.

It’s no news that cow and cattle farming is taxing on the land. But scientists are saying it’s also harmful to the air. When cows belch, which they often do, they give off methane gas. And methane, while not as abundant in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide emissions, has twenty times the heat-trapping ability.

As more of the world turns to cow and cattle ranching for meat and milk production, the amount of methane in the air is steadily rising. (A single cow produces 200 – 400 pounds of methane each year and production of milk and beef is expected to double in the next 30 years.)

From the article in the NY Times: The United Nations has called livestock one of the most serious near-term threats to the global climate. In a 2006 report that looked at the environmental impact of cows worldwide, including forest-clearing activity to create pasture land, it estimated that cows might be more dangerous to Earth’s atmosphere than trucks and cars combined.

In response, the dairy industry is researching ways to reduce methane burps, including a “cow of the future” program which aims to reduce emissions by 25% in 2010.

Guy Choiniere, of Vermont yogurt manufacturer Stonyfield Farms, thinks the answer to reducing methane in cow “eruptions” is to change their diet. By switching his herd’s diet from corn and soy to alfalfa and flax seed, which more naturally mimics the cow’s evolutionary diet, Choiniere says he has reduced methane output by 18%.

“They are healthier,” he said of his cows. “Their coats are shinier, and the breath is sweet.”

Alfalfa and flax seed are high in omega-3 fatty acids and ease digestion. Cows on this diet are healthier, live longer and produce 10% more milk. Corn and soy, while cheap, plentiful and government-subsidized, do not provide these benefits.

Alfalfa and flax may cost more up front, but the cost seems well worth it… for the cows, for us and for the planet.

What do you think?