Less polluting burps

With its burps and farts, a dairy cow emits as much methane every year as a car driven 20,000 kilometers. Ottawa has just authorized the marketing of a feed additive that could transform the fight against global warming on the farm. 3-NOP could reduce methane emissions from dairy cows by an average of 30%, and from beef cattle by an average of 45%.

How does it work?

Methane is formed in cows' rumen—the front compartment of their stomach—during digestion.

"In the rumen, we have [millions of billions] of micro-organisms. [...] we're in the 15 zeros after the 1! So there really are astronomical quantities," Andréanne La Salle, agronomist and Faculty Lecturer in the Farm Management and Technology program at McGill University's Macdonald Campus, told La Presse.

Among these micro-organisms are the archaea, which release methane by combining hydrogen and CO2 molecules from digestion.

"This is when the cow burps the methane, which is then released into the environment through its mouth. The 3-NOP will reduce the [number of archaea or prevent them] from developing," added La Salle.

Dairy Farmers of Canada wants to be carbon neutral by 2050. Will this tool make a difference?

It's an interesting tool, provided farm businesses can afford to use it, said La Salle. She estimates that the daily cost of 3-NOP will be around 50 cents per cow.

"Fifty cents per cow per day doesn't sound like much when you put it like that, but if you look at an average dairy herd in Quebec, we're talking about 75 lactating cows a year, multiplied by 365 days, do the math: that comes to around $13,000. And when you're talking about a 75-cow farm, you're talking about a family income," she pointed out, adding that it could be worthwhile subsidizing producers who decide to use it.