One researcher has potentially found a way to create farm animal feed out of agricultural byproducts that could be more digestible and produce less methane, a heat-trapping gas that livestock release.
According to Phys.org, Milad Parchami, a doctoral candidate researching biotechnology at the University of Borås in Sweden, published a thesis outlining how sustainable feed could be created using agricultural byproducts like apple pulp and protein liquid from potatoes — which often become waste during food production.
The researcher found that he could turn these byproducts into volatile fatty acids, which are the main energy source for ruminant animals such as cows and sheep. With the VFAs, Parchami conducted a feeding study with sheep and experiments using a simulated rumen (stomach chamber) environment.
Parchami found that "the VFA mixture can reduce methane production, a greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming, improve feed digestibility, and increase total VFA concentrations," according to Phys.org.
This is a promising discovery, as it addresses two different problems: agricultural waste and methane production in livestock. Food waste adds to our growing landfills, while livestock contributes about one-third of anthropogenic methane emissions — both of which exacerbate the amount of air pollution released into the atmosphere. Air pollution doesn't just hurt the planet — it also impacts our brain, heart, lung, and even skin health.
"The research project points to a win-win situation, where agricultural and food byproducts are upgraded to valuable substances by being converted into sustainable feed and thereby can contribute to a greener future for livestock farming," Parchami told Phys.org.
The agricultural industry accounted for 10.6% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in 2021, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Developments in feeding technology help reduce this number, but there is still a long way to go. The meat industry is still a major polluter, so one way consumers can curb this pollution is to adopt a plant-based diet. Not only does it save you money, since meat can be costly, but it can also be better for your health.
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