New research being done on farms in Vermont in the USA indicates that the artificial diet fed to cattle since the second world war is responsible for a large part of the methane emitted by agriculture. The experiment introduced plants like alfalfa and flax seed into the cattle’s diet mimicing the natural grasses that cows ate earlier last century and replacing corn and soya bean feed. Milk production remained steady while methane emissions dropped by 18 per cent. The first of 15 farmers to try the experiment, Guy Choiniere, said that the cows are healthier, their coats are shinier and their breath is sweeter. Methane is a greenhouse gas, twenty times as effective as carbon dioxide at trapping the sun’s heat. Feedlot cattle produce well over 100kilograms of methane each year as well as consuming 700litres of water for every litre of milk they produce.
