Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from livestock production

Recent IPCC reports have highlighted the environmental impact of livestock production as a major source of non-CO2 emissions: methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O) and ammonia (NH3). The livestock sector must react to these reports and develop or implement methods that can reduce greenhouse (GHG) emissions from livestock production.

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from livestock production provides authoritative reviews on measuring GHG emissions from livestock as well as the range of methods that can be applied to reduce emissions, ranging from breeding to animal health and manure management. The collection also reviews nutritional approaches such as improving forage quality and the use of plant bioactive compounds and other feed supplements to limit emissions by modifying the rumen environment.

Drawing in an international range of expert authors, Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from livestock production summarises what we can do to make livestock production more sustainable and viable for the future. It will be a major reference for the livestock (particularly dairy) science research community, environmental scientists, government and other agencies tackling the challenge of climate change, as well as companies involved in livestock production and processing of dairy and meat products.

Part 1 Analysis
1.Measuring methane emissions from livestock: Trevor Coates, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Canada; and Deli Chen and Mei Bai, University of Melbourne, Australia;
2.Greenhouse gas emissions from livestock production: modelling methods, methane emission factors and mitigation strategies: Donal O’Brien, Environment, Soils and Land Use Department, Teagasc, Ireland; and Laurence Shalloo, Animal and Grassland Research and Innovation Department, Teagasc, Ireland;

Part 2 Breeding, animal husbandry and manure management
3.The contribution of animal breeding to reducing the environmental impact of livestock production: Yvette de Haas, Wageningen University and Research, The Netherlands; Marco C. A. M. Bink, Hendrix Genetics Research, Technology & Services B.V., The Netherlands; Randy Borg, Cobb Europe B.V., The Netherlands; Erwin P. C. Koenen, CRV, The Netherlands; Lisanne M. G. Verschuren, Topigs Norsvin Research Center B.V./Wageningen University and Research, The Netherlands; and Herman Mollenhorst, Wageningen University and Research, The Netherlands;
4.Quantifying the contribution of livestock health issues to the environmental impact of their production systems: Stephen G. Mackenzie, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland; and Ilias Kyriazakis, Queen’s University of Belfast, UK;
5.Sustainable nitrogen management for housed livestock, manure storage and manure processing: Barbara Amon, Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy (ATB), Germany and University of Zielona Góra, Poland; Lars Stouman Jensen, University of Copenhagen, Denmark; Karin Groenestein, Wageningen Livestock Research, The Netherlands; and Mark Sutton, UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH), UK;
6.Developments in anaerobic digestion to optimize the use of livestock manure: Mingxue Gao, Danmeng Wang, Chunlan Mao, Yongzhong Feng, Zhiyuan Zhu, Xiaojiao Wang, Guangxin Ren and Gaihe Yang, Northwest A&F University, China;

Part 3 Nutrition
7.The impact of improving feed efficiency on the environmental impact of livestock production: James K. Drackley, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA; and Christopher K. Reynolds, University of Reading, UK;
8.Improving grassland/forage quality and management to reduce livestock greenhouse gas emissions: Michael O'Donovan, Teagasc, Ireland;
9.The use of plant bioactive compounds to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from farmed ruminants: Cécile Martin, Vincent Niderkorn, Gaëlle Maxin, INRAE, France; Jessie Guyader, INRAE-ADM NEOVIA, France; and Maguy Eugène and Diego P. Morgavi, INRAE, France;
10.The use of feed supplements to reduce livestock greenhouse gas emissions: direct-fed microbials: Natasha Doyle, Teagasc Moorepark Food Research Centre, Ireland; Philiswa Mbandlwa, University College Cork, Ireland; Sinead Leahy and Graeme Attwood, AgResearch Limited, New Zealand; Bill Kelly, Ashhurst, New Zealand; Collin Hill and R. Paul Ross, Teagasc Moorepark Food Research Centre and University College Cork, Ireland; and Catherine Stanton, Teagasc Moorepark Food Research Centre, University College Cork and VISTAMILK SFI Centre – Teagasc, Ireland;
11.Modifying the rumen environment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions: Yajing Ban, University of Alberta, Canada; André L. A. Neves, Embrapa Dairy Cattle, Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa), Brazil; Le Luo Guan, University of Alberta, Canada; and Tim McAllister, Lethbridge Research and Development Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Canada;