California puts trust in Cornell’s animal science expertise

The grant is for $1.5 million, combined with $1.7 million in matching funds from dairy industry companies and philanthropic organizations, for a total of $3.2 million. McFadden and his collaborators will use the funds for a series of studies to test alternative methane mitigation and monitoring technologies side by side.

The goal is first to tease apart how individual fatty acids, which are routinely fed to cattle, influence methane emissions. “Some fatty acids may actually decrease methane production (grams of methane per day), and some may decrease methane intensity (grams of methane per kilogram of milk),” McFadden said. “Understanding how specific fatty acids modify ruminal methanogenesis has the potential to synergize with methane-reducing feed additives.”

Next, McFadden and his colleagues will look at bromoform, a compound in Asparagopsis taxiformis, or red algae seaweed. Bromoform has the potential to reduce enteric methane emissions by inhibiting the enzymes that control rumen methanogenesis in cattle. 

The researchers will compare three different bromoform-containing technologies: freeze-dried Asparagopsis; raw Asperagopsis coated in canola oil, which has a stabilizing effect on the bromoform; and a synthetic bromoform product. “Whichever of these technologies proves to be safest and most effective will move forward to a clinical dose titration study,” McFadden said.

A large part of the research will take place in the new animal respiration chambers installed at the Animal Science Department’s Large Animal Research and Teaching Unit. The Cornell chambers, which are the only ones of their kind in the United States, are climate-controlled and monitor all emissions from an animal throughout the course of a day, thus allowing for accurate measurements of greenhouse gas emissions. 

The researchers will also collect rumen fluid from cows fed the special diets. Then Mason will do a genetic makeup on the rumen microbes to ascertain how they are responding to the particular feed additive. The goal is to understand how the microbes influence bromoform degradation and nutrient utilization in the rumen.

In addition, Mason will explore how the microbial environment in a cow’s rumen changes in the short and long term. “It’s quite possible a cow will adapt to the additive,” McFadden explained. “A cow might show an 80% reduction in methane production a week or two after feeding begins, but after several months, the rumen microbes may adapt and the cow return to its normal emissions.”

The researchers plan to collect blood and/or saliva from the cows, as well, which is where Huson’s research comes into the picture. She will use genotyping to try to pinpoint which genetic traits are related to particular methane responses. “Not all cows respond to an additive the same way,” Huson said. “The same additive might decrease emissions 40% in one cow and only 10% in another. I will be comparing the genotypes of the good responders and the bad responders, looking for where their genotypes differ.”

As a requirement of the grant, the CDFA asks that research specifically benefit the state of California. To that end, McFadden and his colleagues will be feeding the study cows lower forage diets similar to what cows in California eat, including uniquely Californian byproducts such as almond hulls. 

In addition, McFadden and Overton will create a conference to take place for three years in California, starting in 2025. “We’ll showcase the things we’ve learned through the work we do for this grant,” McFadden said. “We’ll bring in the other CDFA award winners, too, to talk about what they’ve been doing. This will be a way for all of us to demonstrate our knowledge and impact to California dairy producers.”

Jackie Swift is the communictions specialist for the Cornell CALS Department of Animal Science.