The Climate Cow

What do our cows have to eat so that they emit as few greenhouse gases as possible?

Our cows are unique because they can produce milk and meat from fodder that is not edible for us humans. But they emit the greenhouse gas methane. This gas is shorter-lived in the atmosphere than CO₂, but it is around 25 times more harmful to the climate. A cow emits around 300 litres of methane every day. This means that our cows are a burden on the greenhouse gas balance of agriculture. That is why we are researching new types of feed at ETH Zurich. We want to make cows and their feeding more climate-friendly and thus every piece of cheese, butter or roast beef that comes onto the table.

For example, cows could also eat leftovers from food production. These are of no interest to us, but taste good to the cows and produce fewer greenhouse gases.

Which type of feed has the best effect? Test the different feeds and observe what influence they have on methane emissions and milk production.

Prof. Dr. Michael Kreuzer
Prof. Dr. Mutian Niu
Animal Nutrition Group

ETH Zurich
Department of Environmental Systems Sciences D-USYS
Institute of Agricultural Sciences in cooperation with AgroVet-Strickhof