Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps her Department is taking to reduce methane emissions from cows; what assessment she has made of the effects on levels of methane emitted by cows of feeding cows linseed; and if she will make a statement.
Answer
On 4 April the English farming industry published its Greenhouse Gas Action Plan, which outlines how the industry can reduce on-farm emissions through resource-efficient practices; this includes reducing methane emissions from livestock.Encouraged by DEFRA, the industry is also working hard to implement the dairy and beef and sheep sector roadmaps that aim to reduce the environmental impacts of milk and beef production, including methane emissions. DEFRA and the devolved Administrations are investing £12.6 million in the UK agriculture greenhouse gas (GHG) research and development platform to improve our agricultural GHG inventory. Work will be undertaken to assess the effects of feeding extruded linseed on methane emissions from dairy cows. DEFRA has also funded research to investigate the potential of reducing GHG emissions from livestock by other dietary and nutritional controls. These studies have shown that feeding ruminant livestock foods such as maize silage, naked oats and higher sugar grasses can reduce the amount of methane they produce.