Milk Fatty Acids: The Impact of Grazing Diverse Pasture and the Potential to Predict Rumen-Derived Methane
The sustainability of dairying has been questioned, yet cattle exploit non-food resources (especially forages) and provide key nutrients for consumers’ health. This study, using different forage types, considered milk’s nutritional quality, focusing on fatty acid profiles alongside methane emissions...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-01-01
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| Series: | Agriculture |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/13/1/181 |
| _version_ | 1797447287785390080 |
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| author | Cecilia Loza Hannah Davis Carsten Malisch Freidhelm Taube Ralf Loges Amelia Magistrali Gillian Butler |
| author_facet | Cecilia Loza Hannah Davis Carsten Malisch Freidhelm Taube Ralf Loges Amelia Magistrali Gillian Butler |
| author_sort | Cecilia Loza |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The sustainability of dairying has been questioned, yet cattle exploit non-food resources (especially forages) and provide key nutrients for consumers’ health. This study, using different forage types, considered milk’s nutritional quality, focusing on fatty acid profiles alongside methane emissions—investigating whether methane can be predicted from milk fatty acids (FAs). Compared with grass/clover/maize silage, cows grazing grass/clover pasture produced milk 70% higher in beneficial omega-3 FAs, which increased by an additional 15% when grazing more diverse pasture. Milk from grazing also had less omega-6 FAs (compared with silage diets), and their ratio with omega-3 FAs fell from 2.5:1 on silage to 1.2:1 when grazing grass/clover and 1.1:1 on diverse pasture. Measured methane emissions (at 8.7 g/kg energy-corrected milk) were lower than published values, and existing models for estimating methane from lactating cows were poor predictors for this dataset. The multiple regression of methane against milk FAs in this study provided predictions with an R<sup>2</sup> of 0.56 for daily emissions and 0.65 relative to milk output. Grazing quality and a diverse pasture with productive cows were potentially beneficial to milk nutritional quality, and our results reinforce the theory that milk fat composition could be an accessible tool for methane prediction; however, they also suggest that more work is needed for alternative production systems. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T13:52:43Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-16d22d12836d4de1983489aa83bf75de |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2077-0472 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T13:52:43Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Agriculture |
| spelling | doaj.art-16d22d12836d4de1983489aa83bf75de2023-11-30T20:46:55ZengMDPI AGAgriculture2077-04722023-01-0113118110.3390/agriculture13010181Milk Fatty Acids: The Impact of Grazing Diverse Pasture and the Potential to Predict Rumen-Derived MethaneCecilia Loza0Hannah Davis1Carsten Malisch2Freidhelm Taube3Ralf Loges4Amelia Magistrali5Gillian Butler6Institute of Plant Production and Plant Breeding, Grass and Forage Science/Organic Agriculture, Christian-Albrechts Universität zu Kiel, 24118 Kiel, GermanySchool of Natural and Environmental Science, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UKInstitute of Plant Production and Plant Breeding, Grass and Forage Science/Organic Agriculture, Christian-Albrechts Universität zu Kiel, 24118 Kiel, GermanyInstitute of Plant Production and Plant Breeding, Grass and Forage Science/Organic Agriculture, Christian-Albrechts Universität zu Kiel, 24118 Kiel, GermanyInstitute of Plant Production and Plant Breeding, Grass and Forage Science/Organic Agriculture, Christian-Albrechts Universität zu Kiel, 24118 Kiel, GermanySchool of Natural and Environmental Science, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UKSchool of Natural and Environmental Science, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU, UKThe sustainability of dairying has been questioned, yet cattle exploit non-food resources (especially forages) and provide key nutrients for consumers’ health. This study, using different forage types, considered milk’s nutritional quality, focusing on fatty acid profiles alongside methane emissions—investigating whether methane can be predicted from milk fatty acids (FAs). Compared with grass/clover/maize silage, cows grazing grass/clover pasture produced milk 70% higher in beneficial omega-3 FAs, which increased by an additional 15% when grazing more diverse pasture. Milk from grazing also had less omega-6 FAs (compared with silage diets), and their ratio with omega-3 FAs fell from 2.5:1 on silage to 1.2:1 when grazing grass/clover and 1.1:1 on diverse pasture. Measured methane emissions (at 8.7 g/kg energy-corrected milk) were lower than published values, and existing models for estimating methane from lactating cows were poor predictors for this dataset. The multiple regression of methane against milk FAs in this study provided predictions with an R<sup>2</sup> of 0.56 for daily emissions and 0.65 relative to milk output. Grazing quality and a diverse pasture with productive cows were potentially beneficial to milk nutritional quality, and our results reinforce the theory that milk fat composition could be an accessible tool for methane prediction; however, they also suggest that more work is needed for alternative production systems.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/13/1/181dairyingpasture grazingmilk qualityGHG |
| spellingShingle | Cecilia Loza Hannah Davis Carsten Malisch Freidhelm Taube Ralf Loges Amelia Magistrali Gillian Butler Milk Fatty Acids: The Impact of Grazing Diverse Pasture and the Potential to Predict Rumen-Derived Methane Agriculture dairying pasture grazing milk quality GHG |
| title | Milk Fatty Acids: The Impact of Grazing Diverse Pasture and the Potential to Predict Rumen-Derived Methane |
| title_full | Milk Fatty Acids: The Impact of Grazing Diverse Pasture and the Potential to Predict Rumen-Derived Methane |
| title_fullStr | Milk Fatty Acids: The Impact of Grazing Diverse Pasture and the Potential to Predict Rumen-Derived Methane |
| title_full_unstemmed | Milk Fatty Acids: The Impact of Grazing Diverse Pasture and the Potential to Predict Rumen-Derived Methane |
| title_short | Milk Fatty Acids: The Impact of Grazing Diverse Pasture and the Potential to Predict Rumen-Derived Methane |
| title_sort | milk fatty acids the impact of grazing diverse pasture and the potential to predict rumen derived methane |
| topic | dairying pasture grazing milk quality GHG |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/13/1/181 |
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