Dietary Strategies to Reduce Enteric Methane Emissions from Ruminants in Confined and Grazing Systems

Diet plays a key role in ruminant methane emissions, a major source of greenhouse gases in livestock. Diets higher in grains, added fats, or certain forages can reduce methane while boosting efficiency. This fact sheet outlines dietary strategies to lower emissions in both grazing and confined systems.

The Colorado Department of Agriculture supported the development of this fact sheet. 

Download the Dietary Strategies to Reduce Enteric Methane Emissions from Ruminants in Confined and Grazing Systems Fact Sheet

Key Scientific Literature:

Beauchemin, K. A., E. M. Ungerfeld, A. L. Abdalla, C. Alvarez, C. Arndt, P. Becquet, C. Benchaar, A. Berndt, R. M. Mauricio, T. A. McAllister, W. Oyhantcabal, S. A. Salami, L. Shalloo, Y. Sun, J. Tricarico, A. Uwizeye, C. De Camillis, M. Bernoux, T. Robinson, and E. Kebreab. (2022). Invited review: Current enteric methane mitigation options. Journal of Dairy Science, 105(12):9297-9326.

Beauchemin KA, Ungerfeld EM, Eckard RJ, Wang M. (2020). Review: Fifty years of research on rumen methanogenesis: lessons learned and future challenges for mitigation. animal, 14(S1):s2-s16. 

Johnson, K. A., and D. E. Johnson. (1995). Methane emissions from cattle. Journal of Animal Science, 73(8):2483-2492.

Lagrange, S. P., MacAdam, J. W., & Villalba, J. J. (2021). The Use of Temperate Tannin Containing Forage Legumes to Improve Sustainability in Forage–Livestock Production. Agronomy, 11(11), 2264. 

Vargas, J., E. Ungerfeld, C. Muñoz, and N. DiLorenzo. (2022). Feeding strategies to mitigate enteric methane emission from ruminants in grassland systems. Animals, 12(9):1132.