Enteric methane emissions from dairy cows fed different proportions of highly digestible grass silage |
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| Authors: | M. Patel E. Wredle G. Börjesson R. Danielsson A. D. Iwaasa E. Spörndly |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Animal Nutrition and Management, Kungs?ngen Research Centre , Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences , SE-753 23, Uppsala, Sweden mikaela.patel@slu.se;3. Department of Animal Nutrition and Management, Kungs?ngen Research Centre , Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences , SE-753 23, Uppsala, Sweden;4. Department of Soil and Environment , Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences , PO Box 7014, SE-750 07, Uppsala, Sweden;5. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada – Semiarid Prairie Agricultural Research Centre , Box 1030, Swift Current, Saskatchewan, S9H 3X2, Canada |
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| Abstract: | Abstract Enteric methane (CH4) emissions were measured from six lactating dairy cows using the sulfur hexafluoride tracer technique. Three diets with different proportions of highly digestible grass silage/concentrates were fed: 500/500, 700/300, or 900/100 g kg–1 dry matter (DM). The average daily CH4 emissions were 282, 300, and 321 g animal–1, respectively and the methane conversion factor (Y m ) from gross energy (GE) ranged from 0.051 to 0.056. However, the statistical power of the study was weak and the differences between diets were not significant (p=0.149 and p=0.293, respectively). A linear regression analysis showed a trend (p=0.08) toward higher enteric CH4 emissions with higher proportion of high quality grass silage in the diet. A definite conclusion is not possible and further studies are needed as a base for concrete advice on how to mitigate enteric CH4 emissions from high yielding dairy cows in Scandinavia. |
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| Keywords: | Greenhouse gases (GHG) forage-concentrate ratio ruminal volatile fatty acids (VFA) sulfur hexafluoride |
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