Enteric methane output from selected herds of beef cattle raised under extensive arid rangelands

Prediction of enteric methane emissions from cattle.

Agriculture has a key role in food production worldwide and it is a major component of the gross domestic product of several countries. Livestock production is essential for the generation of high quality protein foods and the delivery of foods in regions where animal products are the main food source. Environmental impacts of livestock production have been examined for decades, but recently em...

Methane and Protein from Beef Cattle Manure

The potential of 3-nitrooxypropanol to lower enteric methane emissions from beef cattle.

This study evaluated if 3-nitrooxypropanol reduces enteric methane (CH4) emissions when added to the diet of beef cattle. The effects of 3-nitrooxypropanol on related variables including diet digestibility, ruminal fermentation, and ruminal microorganisms were also investigated. Eight ruminally cannulated Angus heifers (549 ± 64.3 kg [mean BW ± SD]) were fed a high forage diet (backgrounding di...

Timing of Vaccination in Beef Cattle Herds

Infectious reproductive diseases have great potential to create significant damaging effects to reproductive efficiency and therefore profitability for the beef herd. Pathogens causing reproductive diseases include: bovine viral diarrhea (BVD), infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR), Leptospira, Tritrichomonas foetus, Campylobacter fetus subsp. venerealis (“vibrio”) and Neospora caninum, among...

Pathways for positive cattle-wildlife interactions in semi-arid rangelands

Livestockwildlife interactions in rangelands are often viewed in terms of competition, but livestock and native ungulates can also benefit each other through longterm modifications of rangeland habitats. Here we synthesize research on rangelands in central Laikipia focusing on two types of cattlewildlife interactions that have implications for their longterm coexistence. The first interaction o...