New Cow Diet to Curb Methane

The NY Times reported on a program by Stonyfiled Farm, the yogurt maker, to tackle methane, err, production at suppliers' cow farms. 

Cow gas is no laughing matter when it comes to global warming. Worldwide production of milk and beef expected to double in the next 30 years. The UN has called livestock one of the most serious near-term threats to the global climate. In a 2006 report that looked at the environmental impact of cows worldwide, it estimated that cows might be more dangerous to Earth’s atmosphere than trucks and cars combined. See article from Environmental Graffitti

The source is digestive bacteria in cows stomachs that cause them to belch methane.  Methane has 20 times the heat-trapping ability and is the second-most-significant heat-trapping emission associated with global warming after carbon dioxide. The average cow expels — through burps mostly, but some flatulence — 200 to 400 pounds of methane a year.

Source:  http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/05/us/05cows.html?_r=1