'Burpless' Grass Cuts Methane Gas From Cattle

ScienceDaily (May 8, 2008) — Grass that may help tackle global warming by cutting the level of methane given off by cows is being developed by scientists reports the latest issue of the Society of Chemical Industry’s (SCI) magazine Chemistry & Industry.

Scientists at Gramina, a joint biotech venture by Australia’s Molecular Plant Breeding Cooperative Research Centre and New Zealand rural services group PGG Wrightson Genomics, are developing a grass that will not only cut the amount of methane cows burp up when chewing the cud but also grow in hotter climes.

This means that farmers should be able to maintain dairy herds’ productivity and profitability in the face of a changing climate, while cutting down their gaseous burps and reducing their contribution to global warming.