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Is there a relationship between the behaviour of beef cattle and emissions of methane and ammonia from feedlot systems?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 November 2017

S Muir
Affiliation:
University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
M Bai
Affiliation:
University of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
Z Loh
Affiliation:
University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
J Hill*
Affiliation:
University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
D Chen
Affiliation:
University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
T Naylor
Affiliation:
University of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
D Griffiths
Affiliation:
University of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
R Edis
Affiliation:
University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
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Extract

Associations between animal behaviour and emissions of methane (CH4) and ammonia (NH3) have been noted in studies of grazing cattle (Lockyer, 1997) and feedlot confined cattle (Harper et al., 1999, Flesch et al., 2007). Methane emissions have been predicted as being greatest during bouts of rumination (Harper et al., 1999) whereas the emissions of the indirect greenhouse gas ammonia tends to be low early in the morning but increasing rapidly in the early afternoon after which a rapid decline until sunset (Flesch et al., 2007). With the exception of Harper et al., (1999) there are few complete data sets that examine the interaction between animal behaviour and greenhouse gas emissions from intensive animal production systems. The current study aimed to investigate the relationship between animal behaviour and emissions of CH4 and NH3 in a beef feedlot system in northern Australia.

Type
Theatre Presentations
Copyright
Copyright © The British Society of Animal Science 2009

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References

Flesch, T.K., Wilson, J.D., Harper, L.A., Todd, R.W., & Cole, N.A. (2007) Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 144, 139–155 Google Scholar
Harper, L.A., Denmead, O.T., Freeny, J.R., & Byers, F.M. (1999) Journal of Animal Science, 77, 1392–1401 Google Scholar
Lockyer, D.R. (1997) Agriculture Ecosystems and Environment, 66, 11–18 Google Scholar
Mitlohner, F.M., Morrow-Tesch, J.L., Wilson, S.C., Dailey, S.C. & McGlone, J.J. (2001) Journal of Animal Science, 79, 1189–1193 Google Scholar