主要研究 今天

New England’s dairy sector continues to evolve in response to significant market challenges associated with higher input and land costs, decreased availability of a skilled labor force and 牛奶需求减少. The dairy farmers who remain—这只是20世纪50年代该地区1万多人中的一小部分-必须平衡生产成本和新的和创新的营销机会, such as targeting certified organic milk markets, which can set their dairy products apart from conventionally produced milk and garner higher prices. 也有证据表明，有机奶牛养殖可以提供环境效益such as reducing methane release—which could further differentiate their products as well as help qualify farms for new government initiatives to reduce methane emissions through innovative management practices, such as adding seaweed to animal feed. 问题? The feed additives can be expensive, which can throw off the careful economic balancing act.

最近的研究 New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station 科学家 安德烈·布里托， 主要研究奶牛营养与管理副教授，博士.D. 候选人 戴安娜雷耶斯 set out to assess how much New England organic dairy farmers would be willing to increase their costs to adopt these methane-reducing practices. Their survey study of Maine organic dairy farmers 发表于 Frontiers in Veterinary Science and included a cross-disciplinary team of 科学家s from research facilities and teams in New Hampshire and Maine.

“奶农的目标是把他们的农场经营成利润丰厚的企业,布里托解释道, “so the additional costs would require serious considerations, 以及更多的数据和未来碳市场的有效实施.”

The research team surveyed 35 organic dairy farmers, all of whom were familiar with seaweed-based feeds and a third of whom were already using such feeds on their farms. Nearly half of respondents reported a willingness to pay, on average, an additional $0.64 per cow per day for methane-reducing seaweed-based feed.

The survey also revealed that 93 percent of the farmers were more concerned about issues like labor shortages, 基础设施问题, rising costs and unstable supply chains, rather than climate change and regulation. This means that farmers would only consider using seaweed in their cows' diets if it is cost-effective and has additional benefits, while also aligning with existing feeding practices and receiving support from government policies and subsidies.

“奶农的目标是把他们的农场经营成利润丰厚的企业, so the additional costs would require serious considerations, 以及更多的数据和未来碳市场的有效实施.——安德烈·布里托，奶牛营养与管理副教授

作为研究的一部分, 研究人员在沃尔夫颈部农业中心进行了一项喂养试验 & 环境(自由港), ME), 他们给22头牛喂食含有6%红海藻(C. 管)，于2021年2月至5月期间从缅因州海岸线收获. The results of the trial showed that adding this seaweed to the cows' diet reduced methane production by 13.9 percent without affecting milk production and quality.

“Our goal was to source locally available red seaweed with methane mitigation potential to reduce transportation and feed costs,布里托解释道. “And based on our preliminary research, C. 管 emerged as a viable 候选人 to be tested in feeding trials.”

他补充说:“测试 C. 管 on a working organic dairy farm showed this seaweed with medium methane decrease potential, indicating that further research is needed to identify the bioactive compounds present in C. 管 responsible for the reduction in methane.”

根据 尼科尔价格, a senior research 科学家 with the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences 导演 Bigelow Center for Seafood Solutions, Maine serves as the ideal location to examine how the seaweed and organic dairy farming can work in unison.

“Maine is the birthplace of temperate seaweed farming in the U.S.它还支持海藻的有机认证，”普莱斯说. “加, the close proximity of the nascent seaweed industry to organic dairy farms makes Maine the perfect testbed for this exciting line of inquiry.”

This material is based on work supported by the NH Agricultural Experiment Station through joint funding from the USDA National Institute of Food and 农业 (根据哈奇奖编号1017808)和新罕布什尔州. 其他支持来自谢尔比·卡洛姆·戴维斯慈善基金公司. and the Sustainable 农业 Systems grant no. 美国农业部国家粮食与农业研究所2021-69012-35919, as well as the USDA-National Institute of Food and 农业 Hatch Multistate NC-2042 (Project Number NH00670-R; Kansas City, MO).

This work is co-authored by 戴安娜雷耶斯 (主要研究), Jennifer Meredith (Colby College), Leah Puro (Wolfe’s Neck Center for the 农业 and 环境), 凯瑟琳·贝瑞(沃尔夫颈部农业与环境中心), Richard Kersbergen (University of Maine 合作推广), 凯西·索德(美国农业部), Charlotte Quigley (Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences), Michael Donihue (Colby College), 多恩·考克斯(沃尔夫颈部农业与环境中心), 尼科尔·普莱斯(毕格罗海洋科学实验室)和安德烈·布里托(主要研究).