REAL LIFE NEWS: SUPER GRASS WILL REDUCE COW BURPS
by Hazed
Cows produce a lot of methane from the grass that they eat. It builds up in their stomachs and then gets burped out – which is a bad thing because methane emissions are one of the causes of climate change. (And yes, it’s cow burps not cow farts that are the problem.)
So it’s good news that Danish scientists are developing a new strain of grass that won’t produce so much methane. Less methane means fewer cow burps.
The researchers from Aarhus University have altered the DNA of the grass to make it easier to digest, so that less gas builds up inside the cows. Senior researcher Torben Asp said, “It is simply a better diet for the cow, which can utilise the feed more efficiently and therefore doesn’t release as much methane when it burps.”
Denmark’s environment and food ministry has given 13.5m kroner ($2m) to the project. A minister said, “We know that cattle are one of agriculture’s culprits when it comes to releasing greenhouse gases, so it’s important that we explore how we can reduce cows’ emissions.”
The super grass should be available in seven or eight years.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-37618474
Bonus Scandinavian cow story: A fire truck, responding to an accident in central Sweden where a car had collided with a cow, was unable to get to the scene of the incident because it crashed into a herd of 37 cows that had escaped from a field.
https://www.thelocal.se/20161010/firetruck-kills-more-than-30-cows-in-road-crash
