Good news for earth-conscious dairy farmers: Cows don't produce enough methane to be blamed for climate change issues.
It may be a popular joke, but a recent
Michigan Technological University study, in association with the University of Arkansas, found the dairy industry is only responsible for about 2 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. However, more can be done to manage the emissions that currently exist, according to the study results.
David Shonnard, chemical engineering professor at Tech, and director of the Sustainable Futures Institute, used U.S. Department of Agriculture data in the study, which was commissioned by the Innovation Center for the U.S. Dairy, a dairy industry group.
Shonnard and his team of Tech students measured the carbon impact of dairy production from the feed crops to the dairy cows, while the Arkansas researchers looked at emissions from the dairy to the milk on your table.
"We focused on the carbon footprint of the feed crops," says Shonnard. "Animal feed is a major contributor to carbon emissions."
Together, they measured the carbon footprint of a gallon of milk from farm to table, looking at more than 500 dairy farms, 50 dairy processors, and 210,000 round trips transporting milk.
The conclusions they came up with? The total greenhouse gas emissions in 2007 -- the year for which data was used -- associated with milk production in the U.S. is about 35 million metric tons. That's not as high as previously thought, but there is still room for improvement.
Manure management, feed production and enteric methane from cows all are areas that could be improved with innovations yet to come. Water consumption and land use are other points that could warrant further research, Shonnard's group concludes.
Writer: Sam EgglestonSource: David Shonnard, Michigan Technological University
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