No reason to demonise farming
OPINION: New Zealand has said it is going to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by ‘a lot’ and ‘in a short time’. One of those gases is methane. Our biggest producer of methane is livestock farming.
Researchers at the USDA-ARS Conservation and Production Research Laboratory in Bushland, Texas set out to use a number of different methane assessment methods—including a “breathaliser for cows”— to determine the methane emissions of free-range cattle on Oklahoma grasslands.
Their research, combined with data on how well the soil traps methane, can help create more accurate models of how much greenhouse gas emissions Americans can chalk up to their fondness for cheese and hamburgers.
