Register      Login
Animal Production Science Animal Production Science Society
Food, fibre and pharmaceuticals from animals
Shopping Cart: ( empty )
You are here: Home > Journals > AN > AN09214
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 50(6)

Can rumen methane production be predicted from volatile fatty acid concentrations?

D. L. Robinson A B C , J. Goopy A B and R. S. Hegarty A B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Sheep Industry Cooperative Research Centre, Armidale, NSW 2351, Australia.

B Beef Industry Centre, Industry and Investment NSW, Armidale, NSW 2351, Australia.

C Corresponding author. Email: dorothy.robinson@industry.nsw.gov.au

Animal Production Science 50(6) 630-636 https://doi.org/10.1071/AN09214
Submitted: 17 December 2009  Accepted: 5 May 2010   Published: 11 June 2010

Abstract

Rumen cannulated sheep (n = 12) were tested at each of three feeding levels: 0.8, 1.24 and 1.6 times maintenance. The ration (lucerne chaff) was provided in eight equal portions to emulate morning and afternoon grazing. After at least 10 days adaptation to each feeding level, methane production was measured in an open circuit calorimeter for 22 h using the same feeding regime. During measurement, 10 rumen samples were taken for volatile fatty acid (VFA) analysis by an indwelling rumen probe with a sampling tube that passed outside the calorimeter. Feed intake was strongly correlated with daily methane production (DMP, r = 0.87). Both methane production and VFA concentrations showed bimodal patterns related to the feeding cycle, but feed intake had a much smaller effect on VFA concentrations than on methane production rate. Average VFA concentration was a poor predictor of DMP. The best predictor, propionate concentration, explained 26% of the variance in DMP. The weakness of the association between VFA concentrations and methane production could be a consequence of differences in rumen volume and differences in VFA absorption associated with feeding level, although the possibility of accumulation of alternate fermentation end products or re-fermentation of VFA cannot be excluded. It is concluded that none of the suite of VFA parameters assessed offers a useful tool to predict daily methane production in grazing sheep.

Additional keywords: rumen fermentation, sheep.


Acknowledgements

Thanks to Mr Reg Woodgate for technical oversight and determination of methane production. Mr Stuart McClelland is thanked for assistance in calorimeter operation and VFA analysis. Thanks also to Dr Phil Vercoe as Program Manager responsible for this work in the Sheep Industry CRC. Funding for this work was provided by the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry as part of the Climate Change Research Program and by Meat and Livestock Australia.


References


AFRC (1993) ‘Energy and protein requirements of ruminants: An advisory manual prepared by the AFRC Technical Committee on Responses to Nutrients.’ (CAB International: Wallingford, UK)

Bird SH, Hegarty RS, Woodgate R (2008) Persistence of defaunation effects on digestion and methane production in ewes. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 48, 152–155.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | CAS | open url image1

Blaxter KL, Clapperton JL (1965) Prediction of the amount of methane produced by ruminants. The British Journal of Nutrition 19, 511–522.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | CAS | PubMed | open url image1

Czerkawski J (1986) ‘An introduction to rumen studies.’ (Pergamon Press: Elmsford)

Demeyer D , Van Nevel CJ (1975) Methanogenesis, an integrated part of carbohydrate fermentation, and its control. In ‘Digestion and metabolism in the ruminant’. (Eds IW McDonald, ACI Warner) pp. 363–383. (The University of New England Publishing Unit: Armidale, NSW)

Dijkstra J, Boer H, Van Bruchem J, Bruining M, Tamminga S (1993) Absorption of volatile fatty acids from the rumen of lactating dairy cows as influenced by volatile fatty acid concentration, pH and rumen liquid volume. The British Journal of Nutrition 69, 385–396.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | CAS | PubMed | open url image1

Faichney GJ (1996) Prediction of methane emission by domestic ruminants. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society of Australia 20, 199. open url image1

Gilmour AR , Gogel BJ , Cullis BR , Thompson R (2005) ‘ASReml user guide release 2.0.’ (VSN International: Hemel Hempstead, UK)

Leng RA (1970) Formation and production of volatile fatty acids in the rumen. In ‘Physiology of digestion and metabolism in the ruminant’. (Ed. AT Phillipson) pp. 407–421. (Oriel Press: Newcastle upon Tyne)

Lynch JJ , Hinch GN , Adams DB (1992) ‘The behavior of sheep – biological principles and implications for production.’ (CAB International, CSIRO: East Melbourne)

Machmüller A, Ossowski DA, Wanner M, Kreuzer M (1998) Potential of various fatty feeds to reduce methane release from rumen fermentation in vitro (Rusitec). Animal Feed Science and Technology 71, 117–130.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1

Menke K, Raab L, Salewski A, Steingass H, Fritz D, Schneider W (1979) The estimation of the digestibility and metabolizable energy content of ruminant feedingstuffs from the gas production when they are incubated with rumen liquor in vitro. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 93, 7–22.
| Crossref |
open url image1

Moss AR, Jouany J-P, Newbold J (2000) Methane production by ruminants: its contribution to global warming. Annales de Zootechnie 49, 231–253.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | CAS | open url image1

Murray PJ, Gill E, Balsdon SL, Jarvis SC (2001) A comparison of methane emissions from sheep grazing pastures with different management intensities. Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems 60, 93–97.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | CAS | open url image1

Purser DN, Moir RJ (1966) Rumen volume as a factor involved in individual sheep differences. Journal of Animal Science 25, 509–515. open url image1

Rowe JB, Loughnan ML, Nolan JV, Leng RA (1979) Secondary fermentation in the rumen of a sheep given a diet based on molasses. The British Journal of Nutrition 41, 393–397.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | CAS | PubMed | open url image1

Rumsey TS, Putnam PA, Bond J, Oltjen RR (1970) Influence of level and type of diet on ruminal pH and VFA, respiratory rate and EKG patterns of steers. Journal of Animal Science 31, 608–616.
|  CAS | PubMed |
open url image1

Sharp WM, Johnson RR, Owens FN (1982) Ruminal VFA production with steers fed whole grain or ground corn grain. Journal of Animal Science 55, 1505–1514.
|  CAS | PubMed |
open url image1

Stewart WE, Stewart DG, Schultz LH (1958) Rates of volatile fatty acid production in the bovine rumen. Journal of Animal Science 17, 723–736.
|  CAS |
open url image1

Sutton JD, Dhona MS, Morant SV, France J, Napper DJ, Schuller E (2003) Rates of production of acetate, propionate and butyrate in the rumen of lactating dairy cows given normal and low roughage diets. Journal of Dairy Science 86, 3620–3633.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | CAS | PubMed | open url image1

Venables WN , Ripley BD (2002) ‘Modern applied statistics with S.’ 4th edn. (Springer: New York)

Verbyla AP, Cullis BR, Kenward MG, Welham SJ (1999) The analysis of designed experiments and longitudinal data by using smoothing splines (with discussion). Applied Statistics 48, 269–311.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar | open url image1