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ARS Home » Plains Area » Clay Center, Nebraska » U.S. Meat Animal Research Center » Nutrition, Growth and Physiology » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #333352
Title: Hourly methane production in finishing steers fed at different levels of dry matter intake

Author
item Hales Paxton, Kristin
item Cole, Noel

Submitted to: Journal of Animal Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/1/2017
Publication Date: 5/5/2017
Citation: Hales, K.E., Cole, N.A. 2017. Hourly methane production in finishing steers fed at different levels of dry matter intake. Journal of Animal Science. 95(5):2089-2096. doi: 10.2527/jas2016.1023.

Interpretive Summary: Methane loss from finishing cattle is important as it represents an energy loss that could be used for maintenance and growth, and methane is a greenhouse gas with a global warming potential much greater than that of carbon dioxide. Thus, our objectives were to determine hourly methane production from growing cattle fed diets differing in corn processing method and wet distillers grains with solubles inclusion level. Eight steers were used in the experiment. Generally, the greatest methane production occurred 5 to 6 hours after feeding with a secondary peak in methane production occurring 9 to 11 hours after feeding in steers fed above maintenance intake. In steers fed at a maintenance level of intake there was only 1 peak in methane production usually 4 to 7 hours after feeding. Caution should be exercised when methane production is evaluated by a single time point sample and extrapolating to a 24-hour period because methane production varies greatly in relation to time of feeding.

Technical Abstract: Methane (CH4) loss from finishing cattle is important as it represents an energy loss that could be used for maintenance and growth, and CH4 is a greenhouse gas with a global warming potential 21 to 25 times that of CO2. Our objectives were to determine hourly CH4 production from growing cattle fed diets differing in corn processing method (dry rolling or steam flaking) and wet distillers grains with solubles (WDGS) inclusion rate. Eight steers (195 kg ± 2.3 in Exp. 1 and 322 kg ± 3.7 in Exp. 2) were fed the following diets: 1) steam-flaked corn (SFC)-based diet with 0% wet distillers grains and solubles (WDGS; SFC-0); 2) SFC-based diet with 15% WDGS (SFC-15); 3) SFC-based diet with 30% WDGS (SFC-30); 4) SFC-based diet with 45% WDGS (SFC-45); 5) DRC-based diet with 0% WDGS (DRC-0); and 6) DRC-based diet with 30% WDGS (DRC-30). All hourly CH4 data were analyzed using the Mixed procedure of SAS. Individual animal was the experimental unit. The model included the fixed effect of hour, diet, and the hour × diet interaction. Hourly differences in CH4 were analyzed using repeated measures. There were numerous hour × diet interactions and thus simple-effect means are presented. In steers fed a DRC-based diet with 0 or 30% WDGS at 2-times maintenance level of intake, the greatest hourly CH4 emissions occur 6 h after feeding (P < 0.01) with a secondary peak between 10 and 11 h after feeding (P < 0.01). For cattle fed SFC-based diets with 0, 15, 30, or 45% WDGS, all diets had peak CH4 emissions 5 and 6 h after feeding (P < 0.01), with a secondary CH4 peak 9 to 11 h after feeding (P < 0.01). Cattle fed at a maintenance level of intake exhibited 1 peak in hourly CH4 production between 5 and 7 h after feeding (P < 0.01). All steers fed 30 and 45% WDGS with SFC had sustained CH4 production over several hours, irrespective of intake level. Steers fed diets with 45% WDGS produced more CH4 beginning 4 h after feeding (P < 0.01) and produced a greater amount of CH4 than any other treatment (P < 0.01).