Rumen gases and bloat in grazing dairy cows

Moate, Peter J.; Clarke, T.; Davis, Linda H.; Laby, R. H.

doi:10.1017/s0021859697004930

Cited by 53 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…White clover led to very low concentrations of hydrogen sulphide in rumen head-space gas despite the higher concentration of cystine in white clover in comparison with perennial ryegrass. This is in agreement with Moate et al (1997), who were unable to detect hydrogen sulphide in the rumen gas of cows grazing white clover/ perennial ryegrass pasture. Further consideration of this observation reveals that cyanogenesis in white clover might provide an explanation.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Effects of dietary sulphur sources on concentrations of hydrogen sulphide in the rumen head-space gas of dairy cows

Dewhurst

Kim

Evans

et al. 2007

Animal

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Three change-over design experiments investigated the origin of hydrogen sulphide in the rumen head-space gas of dairy cows, comparing the effects of single iso-S additions of methionine, cysteine and sodium sulphate, as well as the effects of single meals of fresh ryegrass or white clover. The concentration of hydrogen sulphide in rumen gas declined close to zero within 4 h after withdrawal of the previous feed. Sulphur sources were then given to cows and concentrations of hydrogen sulphide recorded in rumen head-space gas at 30-min intervals. Cysteine addition (8 g) led to a rapid (within 30 min) and a large (490 and 957 p.p.m. respectively in two experiments) increase in hydrogen sulphide concentration. Concentrations were significantly less following methionine addition. Increasing levels of cysteine addition led to significant increases in hydrogen sulphide concentrations ( P , 0.001 for the linear effect), although peak hydrogen sulphide was delayed and concentrations remained higher for longer with the highest (12 g) addition of cysteine ( P , 0.01 for the 'cysteine level' £ 'time' interaction). The increase in concentration of hydrogen sulphide from sodium sulphate was smaller (230 p.p.m.) and slower (2 h) than for cysteine. Despite the much higher intake of cystine for white clover in comparison with perennial ryegrass ( P , 0.001), there was almost no increase in hydrogen sulphide concentration in rumen head-space gas from cows fed white clover. It seems likely that this is associated with the use of sulphur to produce thiocyanate to detoxify the hydrogen cyanide from cyanogenic white clover.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Effects of dietary sulphur sources on concentrations of hydrogen sulphide in the rumen head-space gas of dairy cows

Dewhurst

Kim

Evans

et al. 2007

Animal

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“…Kinetics of ruminal gas emission estimates The estimated hourly ruminal CH 4 and CO 2 production profiles determined in this study are in agreement with previous findings that ruminal fermentation gases evolve rapidly with feeding and that eructation frequency increases with increasing rates of ruminal gas production (Waghorn and Reid, 1983;Ré mond et al, 1993;Moate et al, 1997). In this study, the mean CO 2 /CH 4 ratio in the rumen increased from Figure 1 Post feeding kinetics of gas concentration ratios and estimated hourly productions of CH 4 and CO 2 based on gases sampled from the rumen headspace with low (LRR, o) and high (HRR, ') release rates of SF 6 .…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…Dashes bars represent approximate LSD (5%). , 1993), and in cattle fed on perennial ryegrass/white clover pastures (Moate et al, 1997). The latter authors reported that, from the pre-feeding to the first hour post-feeding, the rate of entry into the rumen gas headspace of CO 2 increased by 3.5 times (0.43 v. 1.45 l/min) and that of CH 4 by 2.4 times (0.18 v. 0.41 l/min).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of release rate of the SF6 tracer on methane emission estimates based on ruminal and breath gas samples

Martin

Koolaard

Rochette

et al. 2012

Animal

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The release rate (RR) of sulphur hexafluoride (SF 6 ) gas from permeation tube in the rumen appears to be positively related with methane (CH 4 ) emissions calculated using the SF 6 tracer technique. Gas samples of breath and ruminal headspace were collected simultaneously in order to evaluate the hypothesis that transactions of SF 6 in the rumen are the source for this relationship. Six non-lactating dairy cows fitted with rumen cannulae were subdivided into two groups and randomly assigned to a two-period crossover design to permeation tubes with low RR (LRR 5 1.577 mg/day) or two-times higher RR (HRR 5 3.147 mg/day) RR. The cows were fed limited amounts of maize silage (80% ad libitum) split into two meals (40% at 0800 h and 60% at 1600 h). Each period consisted of 3-day gas sampling. Immediately before the morning feed and then each hour over 8 h, ruminal gas samples (50 ml) were withdrawn through the cannula fitted with stoppers to prevent opening. Simultaneously, 8-h integrated breath gas samples were collected over the same period. Ratios of concentration of CH 4 /SF 6 , CO 2 /SF 6 and CO 2 /CH 4 and emission estimates of CH 4 and CO 2 were calculated for each sample source using the SF 6 tracer technique principles. The LRR treatment yielded higher (P , 0.001) ruminal CH 4 /SF 6 (by 1.79 times) and CO 2 /SF 6 (by 1.90 times) ratios than the HRR treatment; however, these differences were lower than the 2.0 times difference expected from the RR between the LRR and HRR. Consequently, the LRR treatment was associated with lower (P , 0.01) ruminal emissions of CH 4 over the 8-h collection period than with the HRR treatment (111%), a difference also confirmed by the breath samples (111%). RR treatments did not differ (P 5 0.53) in ruminal or breath CO 2 emissions; however, our results confirm that the SF 6 tracer seems inappropriate for CO 2 emissions estimation in ruminants. Irrespective of the RR treatment, breath samples yielded 8% to 9% higher CH 4 emission estimates than the ruminal samples (P 5 0.01). The relationship between rumen and breath sources for CH 4 emissions was better for LRR than for HRR treatment, suggesting that tracer performance decreases with the highest RR of SF 6 tested in our study (3.1 mg/day). A hypothesis is discussed with regard to the mechanism responsible for the relationship between RR and CH 4 emission estimates. The use of permeation tubes with small range in RR is recommended in animal experiments to decrease variability in CH 4 emission estimates using the SF 6 tracer technique.Keywords: SF 6 tracer, permeation rate, methane, breath, ruminal gas ImplicationsThe sulphur hexafluoride (SF 6 ) tracer technique is a method of choice to estimate individual methane (CH 4 ) emissions from large groups of animals under production conditions such as grazing. However, the CH 4 emissions estimates appear related to the SF 6 release rate (RR) in the rumen. This suggests the need to use permeation tubes with a small range in RR in animal experiments, and that the RR is balanced across t...

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“…Odongo et al 2007). However, monensin has not shown any consistent methane-mitigating effect in the pasturebased systems of Australia and New Zealand (Moate et al 1997;van Vugt et al 2005;Waghorn et al 2008;Grainger et al 2010a). Nitrates, when fed as a dietary supplement, have been shown to reduce methane emissions from dairy cows consuming diets containing low concentrations of nitrogen .…”

Section: Methane Inhibitorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reducing the carbon footprint of Australian milk production by mitigation of enteric methane emissions

Moate¹,

Deighton²,

Williams³

et al. 2016

Anim. Prod. Sci.

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Abstract. This review examines research aimed at reducing enteric methane emissions from the Australian dairy industry. Calorimeter measurements of 220 forage-fed cows indicate an average methane yield of 21.1 g methane (CH 4 )/kg dry matter intake. Adoption of this empirical methane yield, rather than the equation currently used in the Australian greenhouse gas inventory, would reduce the methane emissions attributed to the Australian dairy industry by~10%. Research also indicates that dietary lipid supplements and feeding high amounts of wheat substantially reduce methane emissions. It is estimated that, in 1980, the Australian dairy industry produced~185 000 t of enteric methane and total enteric methane intensity was 33.6 g CH 4 /kg milk. In 2010, the estimated production of enteric methane was 182 000 t, but total enteric methane intensity had declined~40% to 19.9 g CH 4 /kg milk. This remarkable decline in methane intensity and the resultant improvement in the carbon footprint of Australian milk production was mainly achieved by increased per-cow milk yield, brought about by the on-farm adoption of research findings related to the feeding and breeding of dairy cows. Options currently available to further reduce the carbon footprint of Australian milk production include the feeding of lipid-rich supplements such as cottonseed, brewers grains, cold-pressed canola, hominy meal and grape marc, as well as feeding of higher rates of wheat. Future technologies for further reducing methane emissions include genetic selection of cows for improved feed conversion to milk or low methane intensity, vaccines to reduce ruminal methanogens and chemical inhibitors of methanogenesis.

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Rumen gases and bloat in grazing dairy cows

Cited by 53 publications

References 15 publications

Effects of dietary sulphur sources on concentrations of hydrogen sulphide in the rumen head-space gas of dairy cows

Effects of dietary sulphur sources on concentrations of hydrogen sulphide in the rumen head-space gas of dairy cows

Effect of release rate of the SF6 tracer on methane emission estimates based on ruminal and breath gas samples

Reducing the carbon footprint of Australian milk production by mitigation of enteric methane emissions

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