Supplementation with whole cottonseed causes long-term reduction of methane emissions from lactating dairy cows offered a forage and cereal grain diet

The objective of our work was to supplement a forage and cereal diet of lactating dairy cows with whole cottonseed (WCS) for 12 wk and to determine whether the expected reduction in CH4 would persist. A secondary objective was to determine the effect of supplementing the diet with WCS on milk yield and rumen function over the 12-wk feeding period. Fifty lactating cows were randomly allocated to 1 of 2 diets (control or WCS). The 2 separate groups were each offered, on average, 4.2 kg of DM/cow per day of alfalfa hay (a.m.) and 6.6 kg of DM/cow per day of ryegrass silage (p.m.) on the ground in bare paddocks each day for 12 wk. Cows in each group were also individually offered dietary supplements for 12 wk in a feed trough at milking times of 5.4 kg of DM/cow per day of cracked wheat grain and 0.5 kg of DM/cow per day of cottonseed meal (control) or 2.8 kg of DM/cow per day of cracked wheat grain and 2.61 kg of DM/cow per day of WCS. The 2 diets were formulated to be similar in their concentrations of CP and ME, but the WCS diet was designed to have a higher fat concentration. Samples of rumen fluid were collected per fistula from the rumen approximately 4 h after grain feeding in the morning. Samples were taken from 8 cows (4 cows/diet) on 2 consecutive days in wk 2 of the covariate and wk 3, 6, 10, and 12 of treatment and analyzed for volatile fatty acids, ammonia-N, methanogens, and protozoa. The reduction in CH4 emissions (g/d) because of WCS supplementation increased from 13% in wk 3 to 23% in wk 12 of treatment. Similarly, the reduction in CH4 emissions (g/kg of DMI) increased from 5.1% in wk 3 to 14.5% in wk 12 of treatment. It was calculated that the average reduction in CH4 emissions over the 12-wk period was 2.9% less CH4 per 1% added fat, increasing from 1.5% in wk 3 to 4.4% less CH4 in wk 12. There was no effect of WCS supplementation on rumen ammonia-N, rumen volatile fatty acids, rumen methanogens, and rumen protozoa. On average over the 12-wk period, supplementation with WCS decreased the yield of milk (10%), fat (11%), protein (14%), lactose (11%), and fat plus protein (12%) and BW gain (31%). The WCS supplementation had no effect on milk fat concentration but resulted in a decrease in concentration of protein (5%) and lactose (11%). The major finding from this study is that addition of WCS to the diet of lactating dairy cows resulted in a persistent reduction in CH4 emissions (g of CH4/kg of DMI) over a 12-wk period and that these reductions in CH4 are consistent with previous work that has studied the addition of oilseeds to ruminant diets.