Environmentally sustainable livestock production

Livestock are estimated to account for up to 18% of the total anthropogenic greenhouse gas emission and about one third of this is methane. Of the emitted methane, 85-90% comes from enteric gas production in the gut of ruminants and 10-15% from manure. 

 

Ruminant livestock are, however, of vital importance for 1 billion people, enabling them to utilize the vast existing grazing areas that make up 2/3 of agricultural land on the globe and to utilize the fibrous by-products from production og human food. Moreover, in developing countries, livestock is used for transport, ploughing of the land and other activities where the devloped world now use fossil fuel consuming machines.

 

The main scientific objectives are:

 

1. To study the mechanisms regulating enteric methane production in the fermentative compartments of the gut of ruminant animals, and the importance to the animal of this methane production.
2. To develop feeding strategies for ruminant livestock to reduce enteric methane production and improve overall feed utilisation.
3. To develop new feeding, management and production practises for ruminant livestock under extensive conditions that will ensure reduced methane production and reduced reliance on extensive grazing.
4. To understand and develop means to overcome the constraints to adoption of such new management practises in developing countries.
5. To investigate the significance on the climate of changing the livestock production systems in developed and developing countries.
6. To develop modelling and measuring methods for anticipation and documentation of greenhouse gas emissions from livestock production facilities.

Mitigation studies are expected to reveal novel ways of substantially reducing greenhouse gas emission from (ruminant) livestock production, which will be beneficial not only in terms of improved economic efficiency of ruminant livestock production, but when incorporated into new management practises, the pressure on extensive grazing lands (deforestation) could simultaneously be reduced.

 

Professor Jørgen Madsen ()