Enteric methane emission, milk production, and composition of dairy cows fed 3-nitrooxypropanol

Abstract

This study examined the effect of 3-nitrooxypropanol (3-NOP), an investigational substance, on enteric methane emission, milk production, and composition in Holstein dairy cows. Following a 3-wk covariate period, 48 multi-and primiparous cows averaging (± standard deviation) 118 ± 28 d in milk, 43.4 ± 8 kg/d milk yield, and 594 ± 57 kg of body weight were blocked based on days in milk, milk yield, and enteric methane emission and randomly assigned to 1 of 2 treatment groups: (1) control, no 3-NOP, and (2) 3-NOP applied at 60 mg/kg feed dry matter. Inclusion of 3-NOP was through the total mixed ration and fed for 15 consecutive weeks. Cows were housed in a freestall barn equipped with a Calan Broadbent Feeding System (American Calan Inc., Northwood, NH) for monitoring individual dry matter intake and fed ad libitum once daily. Enteric gaseous emissions (methane, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen) were measured using 3 GreenFeed (C-Lock Inc., Rapid City, SD) units. Dry matter intake, cow body weight, and body weight change were not affected by 3-NOP. Compared with the control group, 3-NOP applied at 60 mg/kg feed dry matter decreased daily methane emission, emission yield, and emission intensity by 26, 27, and 29%, respectively. Enteric emission of carbon dioxide was not affected, and hydrogen emission was increased 6-fold by 3-NOP. Administration of 3-NOP had no effect on milk and energy-corrected milk yields and feed efficiency, increased milk fat and milk urea nitrogen concentrations, and increased milk fat yield but had no other effects on milk components. Concentration of C6:0 and C8:0 and the sum of saturated fatty acids in milk fat were increased by 3-NOP. Total trans fatty acids and the sum of polyunsaturated fatty acids were decreased by 3-NOP. In this experiment, 3-NOP decreased enteric methane daily emission, yield, and intensity without affecting dry matter intake and milk yield, but increased milk fat in high-producing dairy cows.

Milk metabolome reveals variations on enteric methane emissions from dairy cows fed a specific inhibitor of the methanogenesis pathway

“…Milk FA synthesized de novo by the mammary gland (C4:0 to C16:0) and those whose origin can be traced mainly to feeds (C16:0 and longer including unsaturated) (Månsson, 2008) were not discriminant. Contrasting with this result, an increase in short-chain milk FA was reported in cows receiving 3-nitrooxypropanol (van Gastelen et al, 2020;Melgar et al, 2021). The reason of this discrepancy is not obvious; a difference with other works is that in our study all cows were primiparous with a moderate milk yield.…”

A Review of 3-Nitrooxypropanol for Enteric Methane Mitigation from Ruminant Livestock

“…Hristov et al (2015) [ 14 ] reported 30% less CH 4 (g/d) on average for lactating dairy cows fed 40 to 80 mg 3-NOP/kg DMI over 12 weeks. In 10- [ 50 ] and 15-week [ 60 ] experiments with dairy cattle, CH 4 (g/d) decreased on average over the study by 26 to 28% with 3-NOP (40 to 80 mg/kg feed DMI), and this effect did not diminish over time. Romero-Perez et al (2015) [ 49 ] reported adding 3-NOP to a beef cattle diet for 16 weeks resulted in a sustained reduction in enteric CH 4 emissions (59%; 9.16 vs. 22.46 g/kg DMI), with no decline in response when measurements were repeated over time.…”

“…Schilde et al (2021) [ 37 ] reported an energy corrected milk yield (kg/d) reduction of 8.8% with inclusion of 3-NOP (60 mg 3-NOP/kg DM) in high concentrate feed as compared with the control without 3-NOP in cows from parturition until d 120 postpartum. Many studies indicate that feeding 3-NOP to dairy cows did not affect milk yield [ 14 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 41 , 50 , 60 ], although there is a lack of large-scale long-term studies.…”

A Pathway to Carbon Neutral Agriculture in Denmark

“…Several studies of 3-NOP in dairy cows have not found any increased production of milk (Hristov et al 2015;Melgar et al 2021), and studies have not found increased weight gain in beef cattle (Jayanegara et al 2018). Nevertheless, DSM is claiming results in Denmark, and at least one other study has found increased energy content due to higher milk fat (Melgar et al 2020b), while another study hints at an improvement in feed conversion efficiency (Schilde et al 2021).…”