methane emitted from the The burps and manure from some 75,000 cows in a huge Brooks, Alta., feedlot is the 11th-highest source of gas in the entire country after a handful of oil and gas facilities and landfills.
The rankings, drawn from 2018 federal methane emissions data, were published in a recent analysis by a team of researchers from the University of Edinburgh. They highlight the enormous impact that meat production, especially beef, has on greenhouse gas emissions.
Agriculture is responsible for about a third of Canada methane emissions Most come from enteric fermentation (cow burps), which can be mitigated with different types of feed and selective breeding, but cannot be completely eliminated.
An unavoidable biological function of ruminants like cattle, the most effective way to reduce the impact of these burps is to reduce the number of animals we produce. Despite the link between emissions and herd size, the federal government has remained largely silent on the problem.
“What regulations?” said University of Ottawa professor Ryan Katz-Rosene, an expert on climate change and livestock policy. He said the federal government has implemented regulations and targets to reduce methane emissions from fossil fuel and waste industries. Efforts to address them in agriculture have largely been based on incentives for farmers, not stricter regulations.
Canada last year joined the Global Methane Pledge, a non-binding agreement signed by around 100 countries to reduce global methane emissions by 30 percent by 2030.
Details of how Canada plans to help the effort were released in September, with a plan reduce the country’s methane emissions by 40 to 45 percent in eight years. Most of these reductions are expected to fall in the oil and gas and waste management sectors, with government projections showing little change in methane emissions from agriculture.
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That’s no surprise. Capturing methane from oil and gas facilities is technically easy and profitable because it can be burned to produce heat or electricity. That’s “much harder to do” with ruminants, Katz-Rosene explained.
Researchers are trying to create feeds that reduce the amount of methane cows emit from their digestive systems, and some cattle farmers are trying to breed animals that emit less gas. Growing cows faster and more intensively also reduces their total emissions because they reach market size faster. Scientists have even designed “strange” devices that sit over cows’ noses and try to capture their methane emissions.
However, the easiest way to reduce livestock methane is to reduce demand, such as raising fewer cows. It’s an approach the federal government has yet to take.
Methane emitted from the burps and manure of some 75,000 cows in a massive Brooks, Alta., feedlot is the 11th highest source of gas in the entire country after a handful of oil and gas facilities and landfills.
Only a handful of countries have begun to consider such an approach, said Ben Lilliston, director of rural strategies and climate change at the Trade and Agriculture Policy Institute, a US environmental group. New Zealand, a major producer of dairy and meat, is leading the charge with the announcement earlier this year of plans to tax methane emissions from livestock, he said.
Canada has yet to implement these kinds of measures, preferring to focus on offering incentives to farmers who reduce their emissions and investing in research on ways to reduce the impact of livestock. Still, the easiest and most effective way to tackle the problem is simply to reduce demand, Katz-Rosene said.