Farms.com Home   News

California Dairy Farmers are Saving Money—and Cutting Methane Emissions—By Feeding Cows Leftovers

By Pam Knox 

If you’re a dairy farmer, feeding leftovers or scraps to cows is nothing new. As long as you keep their diets well balanced, cows can eat a surprising variety of things and stay healthy. But feeding leftovers to cattle also provides another benefit–it reduces food waste, one of the biggest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. Here is a recent story about California dairies’ use of almond hulls, spent grains, and other leftover food to cut methane emissions by diverting edible food products out of landfills, where they produce methane as they decompose. You can read it at Inside Climate News here.

California Dairy Farmers are Saving Money—and Cutting Methane Emissions—By Feeding Cows Leftovers

Source : uga.edu

Trending Video

2026 T.K. Cheung Lecture in Animal Science - Dan Weary

Video: 2026 T.K. Cheung Lecture in Animal Science - Dan Weary

T.K. Cheung Lecture in Animal Science: "Using science to assess and improve the welfare of dairy cattle"

Dan Weary is a Professor at the University of British Columbia. Dan did his BSc and MSc at McGill and Doctorate at Oxford before co-founding UBC’s Animal Welfare Program where he now co-directs this active research group. His research focuses on understanding the perspectives of animals and applying these insights to develop methods of assessing animal welfare and improving the lives of animals. His work has helped drive changes in practices (including the adoption of higher milk rations for calves and pain management for disbudding) and housing methods (including the adoption of social housing for pre-weaned calves). He also studies cow comfort and lameness, social interactions among cows, and interactions between cows, human handlers and technologies like automated millking systems that are increasingly used on farms. His presentation will outline key questions in cattle welfare, highlight recent UBC research addressing them, and showcase innovative methods for improving the lives of cattle and their caretakers.