A recently published research project found that canola meal improves the environmental footprint of milk production – reducing methane emissions and nitrogen losses, along with a boost in milk production.
Published in the September 2021 issue of Journal of Dairy Science, “Diet supplementation with canola meal improves milk production, reduces enteric methane emissions, and shifts nitrogen excretion from urine to feces in dairy cows” details research led by Dr. Chaouki Benchaar, a research scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in Sherbrooke, Quebec.
The researchers found that methane, expressed on dry matter intake basis, as a percentage of gross energy intake, or grams per pound of energy corrected milk declined as the amount of canola meal in the diet increased. This energy was captured in greater milk production, rather than lost to the atmosphere.
The researchers also found that more of the dietary nitrogen from canola meal was converted to milk protein, and less was lost in the urine with each incremental increase in dietary canola meal (Table 2). Urine nitrogen contributes to atmospheric ammonia and nitrous oxide.
