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. 2021 May 5;11(5):1322.
doi: 10.3390/ani11051322.

Enteric and Fecal Methane Emissions from Dairy Cows Fed Grass or Corn Silage Diets Supplemented with Rapeseed Oil

Mohammad Ramin  1 , Juana C Chagas  1 , Hauke Smidt  2 , Ruth Gomez Exposito  2 , Sophie J Krizsan  1
Affiliations

Enteric and Fecal Methane Emissions from Dairy Cows Fed Grass or Corn Silage Diets Supplemented with Rapeseed Oil

Mohammad Ramin et al. Animals (Basel). .

Abstract

This study evaluated potential trade-offs between enteric methane (CH4) emissions and CH4 emissions from feces of dairy cows fed grass silage or partial replacement of grass silage with corn silage, both with and without supplementation of rapeseed oil. Measured data for eight dairy cows (two blocks) included in a production trial were analyzed. Dietary treatments were grass silage (GS), GS supplemented with rapeseed oil (GS-RSO), GS plus corn silage (GSCS), and GSCS supplemented with rapeseed oil (GSCS-RSO). Feces samples were collected after each period and incubated for nine weeks to estimate fecal CH4 emissions. Including RSO (0.5 kg/d) in the diet decreased dry matter intake (DMI) by 1.75 kg/d. Enteric CH4 emissions were reduced by inclusion of RSO in the diet (on average 473 vs. 607 L/d). In 9-week incubations, there was a trend for lower CH4 emissions from feces of cows fed diets supplemented with RSO (on average 3.45 L/kg DM) than cows with diets not supplemented with RSO (3.84 L/kg DM). Total CH4 emissions (enteric + feces, L/d) were significantly lower for the cows fed diets supplemented with RSO. Total fecal CH4 emissions were similar between treatments, indicating no trade-offs between enteric and fecal CH4 emissions.

Keywords: corn silage; dairy cows; fermentation; grass silage; methane emissions; rapeseed oil.

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Conflict of interest statement

There are no conflicts of interest relevant to this publication.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Modified in vitro system for determination of long term methane emissions from feces (nine weeks incubation).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Relationship between enteric CH4 emissions and maximum CH4 emissions potential from feces (n = 32). Fecal CH4 potential was predicted from VFA (mM) stoichiometry, based on VFA determined for the samples and the buswel CH4 potential coefficients taken from Lima et al. [18].
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