Animals to get methane vaccination ?

A suite of measures is being worked on to tackle agricultural emissions - with no single tool likely to suit all farmers in all climatic and soil conditions. Some are available now, some are still in the laboratory. The spectrum ranges from greener on-farm practices (such as reduced fertiliser use, low methane forage crops, nutrient budgeting and no-till crop production) to high science including ... drumroll please ... the methane vaccine. THE METHANE VACCINE It is early days and, naturally, there is no silver bullet, but a lot of store is being placed in efforts to develop a vaccine which limits the amount of methane produced in the rumen (the fore-stomach) of cows, deer and sheep during digestion.  "There's still some way to go before we can say we have a vaccine," says consortium manager Mark Aspin, "but the idea we could vaccinate our animals maybe once a year, or once a lifetime, and that would result in lower emissions is a pretty appealing approach. Aspin says a solution could be in farmers' hands within seven years. BREEDING LOW-METHANE STOCK Researchers have identified high emitting and low emitting cows and sheep after screening 700 dairy cows and 105 ewe lambs.  The challenge, says Aspin, is to develop a cost-effective way of identifying productive animals with low emissions. "Farmers have to understand the trait is advantageous to productivity." NITRIFICATION INHIBITORS Bearing no resemblance to the methane-collecting masks placed on sheep in trials, nitrification inhibitors are applied to pasture to target urine patches - the main source of nitrous oxide and nitrate leaching on pasture.  They slow or stop the conversion of soil ammonium to nitrate. They can be added ahead of the winter wet season and in early spring to minimise nitrate leaching into waterways and reduce nitrous oxide emissions. Reducing the loss of nitrogen can mean less fertiliser is required, reducing costs and improving pasture growth.