You’ve probably heard of kombucha, but how about “Kowbucha”?
Probiotic drinks could be key to lowering methane emission from cows.
Scientists in New Zealand say they’ve been conducting research with promising results after giving cows their cleverly named formula.
“So ‘Kowbucha’ is a natural potential probiotic methane-busting solution to reducing methane emissions on farms in New Zealand and potentially globally,” Shalome Basset, Fonterra Research and Development Centre, said.
Researchers say they started out developing probiotics for humans and when they discovered that their formula reduced methane produced by people, they thought why not try to achieve the same results in cows?
When these animals burp, they release a considerable amount of methane into the air.
It’s a greenhouse gas that traps heat from the sun at dangerous levels.
Some farmers were willing to try it out on their cows and the results amazed these scientists.
“The true eureka moment for me was when we got the results of the first cattle trial back and we were able to show that we got a reduction in methane of up to 20% in those animals and we’ve continued to be able to show reduction in those,” Basset added.
They claim it was easy for the farmer and the calves to be given.
By emptying a packet into their milk supply, the animals don’t even know their milk has been altered.
Researchers hope that this will aid their countries in finding solutions to climate change as they work together with nations.
“New Zealand has key targets it needs to meet by 2030 and also by 2050 and this is a great solution that would be easy for farmers to adopt and help us meet some of those key targets,”Basset stated.