Characterization and mitigation option of greenhouse gas emissions from lactating Holstein dairy cows in East China

Abstract

Background This study investigated greenhouse gas (GHG) emission characteristics of lactating Holstein dairy cows in East China and provided a basis for formulating GHG emission reduction measures. GreenFeed system was used to measure the amount of methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted by the cows through respiration. Data from a commercial cow farm were used to observe the effects of parity, body weight, milk yield, and milk component yield on CH4 and CO2 emissions. Results Mean herd responses throughout the study were as follows: 111 cows completed all experimental processes, while 42 cows were rejected because they were sick or had not visited the GreenFeed system 20 times. On average, lactating days of cows was 138 ± 19.04 d, metabolic weight was 136.5 ± 9.5 kg, parity was 2.8 ± 1.0, dry matter intake (DMI) was 23.1 ± 2.6 kg/d, and milk yield was 38.1 ± 6.9 kg/d. The GreenFeed system revealed that CH4 production (expressed in CO2 equivalent, CO2-eq) was found to be 8304 g/d, $$ {\mathrm{CH}}_{4\left({\mathrm{CO}}_2-\mathrm{eq}\right)} $$ C H 4 ( C O 2 − e q ) /DMI was 359 g/kg, $$ {\mathrm{CH}}_{4\left({\mathrm{CO}}_2-\mathrm{eq}\right)} $$ C H 4 ( C O 2 − e q ) /energy-corrected milk (ECM) was 229.5 g/kg, total CO2 production (CH4 production plus CO2 production) was 19,201 g/d, total CO2/DMI was 831 g/kg, and total CO2/ECM was 531 g/kg. The parity and metabolic weight of cows had no significant effect on total CO2 emissions (P > 0.05). Cows with high milk yield, milk fat yield, milk protein yield, and total milk solids yield produced more total CO2 (P < 0.05), but their total CO2 production per kg of ECM was low (P < 0.05). The total CO2/ECM of the medium and high milk yield groups was 17% and 27% lower than that of the low milk yield group, respectively. Conclusions The parity and body condition had no effect on total CO2 emissions, while the total CO2/ECM was negatively correlated with milk yield, milk fat yield, milk protein yield, and total milk solids yield in lactating Holstein dairy cows. Measurement of total CO2 emissions of dairy cows in the Chinese production system will help establish regional or national GHG inventories and develop mitigation approaches to dairy production regimes.

Assessment of Ammonia Emissions and Greenhouse Gases in Dairy Cattle Facilities: A Bibliometric Analysis

“…Per capita milk consumption in China is much lower than the global level, and vigorous efforts are still needed to develop the dairy industry. Consequently, mitigation strategies for China’s dairy industry need to be extensively investigated [ 88 ].…”

“…Due to rapid economic growth, China became the world’s largest GHG emitter, surpassing US emission levels in 2006 [ 93 ]. However, recently, China has increased awareness of the harmfulness of GHGs and taken measures to address them [ 88 ].…”

Dietary supplementation with xylooligosaccharides and exogenous enzyme improves milk production, energy utilization efficiency and reduces enteric methane emissions of Jersey cows

“…Enteric CH 4 and CO 2 emissions and O 2 consumption were measured using two sets of the GreenFeed Large Animal System (product No. 157 and 158; C-Lock, Inc., Rapid City, SD, USA) as described by Jia et al [ 22 ]. Generally, 10 Jersey cows from each treatment (40 cows in total) were randomly selected and trained for 10 d to adapt the GreenFeed systems before the commencement of the experiment.…”

Analysis of spatial and temporal pattern changes and spatial spillover effects of regional agricultural carbon emission efficiency-Taking the Yangtze River Economic Belt as an example

“…To determine the carbon emissions associated with animal husbandry in the three central Chinese provinces, some researchers have employed the carbon emission coe cient approach. One study found that large livestock, such as pigs, cattle, and sheep, are the main emission sources of animal husbandry (Jia et al 2022). However, these emission sources remain unknown.…”