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RESEARCH ARTICLE

Effect of sunflower oil supplementation on methane emissions of dairy cows grazing Urochloa brizantha cv. marandu1

B. C. Mata e Silva A E , F. C. F. Lopes B , L. G. R. Pereira B , T. R. Tomich B , M. J. F. Morenz B , C. E. Martins B , C. A. M. Gomide B , D. S. C. Paciullo B , R. M. Maurício C and A. V. Chaves D F
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Escola de Veterinária, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, CEP 31270-901, Brazil.

B Embrapa Gado de Leite, Rua Eugênio do Nascimento, 610 - Dom Bosco - Juiz de Fora, MG, CEP 36038-330, Brazil.

C Departamento de Bioengenharia, Universidade Federal de São João del-Rei, Praça Dom Helvécio, 74 - Dom Bosco, São João del-Rei - MG, CEP 36301-160, Brazil.

D The University of Sydney, Faculty of Veterinary Science, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.

E Present address: Universidade José do Rosário Vellano - UNIFENAS, Rodovia MG-179 km 0, Bairro Trevo, CEP 37130-000, Alfenas, MG, Brazil.

F Corresponding author. Email: alex.chaves@sydney.edu.au

Animal Production Science 57(7) 1431-1436 https://doi.org/10.1071/AN16470
Submitted: 21 July 2016  Accepted: 7 December 2016   Published: 17 February 2017

Abstract

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the effect of sunflower oil supplementation on methane (CH4) emission of crossbred Holstein × Gyr (Bos indicus) dairy cows grazing tropical pasture. Lactating dairy cows were fed Urochloa brizantha (syn Brachiaria brizantha) pasture managed under rotational grazing. Sunflower oil was supplemented to cows using concentrates with inclusion at 0% or 14.9% (DM basis). Crude fat concentrations in these concentrates were 2.4% and 13.8% respectively (DM basis). Dietary fat concentrations for control and supplemented sunflower oil treatments were 3.2% and 5.2% (DM basis) respectively. Sixteen lactating cows Holstein × Gyr (Bos indicus; 240 ± 10 days in milk, 524 ± 57 kg of bodyweight, 11.2 ± 2.30 kg/day of milk) were used in the study. Methane emissions were estimated by the sulfur hexafluoride tracer technique. The experiment was a randomised-block design with two repetitions of pasture area, with two treatments (0 g or 383 g of sunflower oil supplementation, DM basis) and four replications (cows) per treatment per block. Methane emission and yield expressed as g CH4/day and g CH4/kg of DM intake decreased 21.5% (P = 0.048) and 20.2% (P = 0.032) respectively, in cows supplemented with sunflower oil compared with unsupplemented cows. There was no effect (P = 0.29) of sunflower oil supplementation on CH4 expressed as g CH4/kg of milk. Lactating dairy cows grazing tropical-grass pasture supplemented with sunflower oil (5.3% dietary fat; 383 g oil/day) demonstrated potential for mitigating CH4 emissions without negatively affecting cow milk yield or composition.

Additional keywords: forage, greenhouse gas, mitigation, ruminants.


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