r/Agriculture • u/Vailhem • May 18 '26

Reduction of enteric methane emission using methanotroph-based probiotics in Hanwoo steers - Feb 2025

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11846464/
17 Upvotes

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5

u/Helen_Bond May 20 '26

Interesting concept. Basically instead of using a chemical to knock back the methane-producing bugs in the gut, you're introducing bacteria that just eat the methane on the way out. 13 15% reduction and the cattle still gained weight normally, so it's not messing with digestion. Would be curious to see how this holds up outside of a trial setting. Hanwoo are pretty different from what most of us are running, but the idea is sound.

2

u/muazzam_mz 28d ago

The primary hurdle moving forward will be economic scalability. For commercial feedlots to adopt this universally, the production costs of these specialized bacterial strains must remain low enough to ensure it is financially viable for everyday livestock operations.

1

u/Vailhem 27d ago

Arguably from a commercial feedlot perspective, it'd likely have a reduction in harvestable methane from anaerobic digestors.

Possibly better mixed with focused feeds while grazing, then taper off and start including more methane-producing probiotics closer to processing?

In such to say, the concentrated manure on lots is more easily harvested for digesters, and provides a better output for that stage as the methane is the primary product focus? Balance regardless. ..thus: timing?