A new study has shown that emissions of the greenhouse gas methane are significantly lower in dairy cows on grass-based diets compared with cows on a total mixed ration (TMR).

The research was conducted at the Scotland’s Royal College (SRUC) campus in Dumfries and involved 45 spring-calving Holstein Friesian cows being split into three treatments. One group received a TMR full-time, one group was zero-grazed indoors and the final group was at grass. All groups were housed by night and received TMR.

Emissions were measured using a handheld laser methane detector following milking, with the experiment running for four weeks. By the end of the period, researchers found that methane production for the zero grazing and grazing groups were 17% and 39% lower than the TMR-fed group, respectively.

Milk yields across the three groups remained unchanged over the four-week period at around 37 litres/cow/day. “The efficiency of milk production per unit of methane was substantially greater for the two grass-fed groups,” the SRUC researchers state.

News in-brief

UFU finances good

Despite an increase in staff costs, and a slight drop in membership, the Ulster Farmers’ Union remains in a strong financial position, with its latest set of accounts showing a surplus after tax of £250,000 in 2017. That surplus is down from the £309,000 recorded in 2016, mainly as a result in a reduction in the value of investments.

Income for the year totalled over £1.8m, of which £1.17m comes from member subscriptions. After losing nearly 300 members between 2015 and 2016, the membership base stabilised in 2017 at 11,357, down slightly from the 11,379 recorded in 2016.

Total staff costs in 2017 were up £100,000 to just over £1m.

But with over £450,000 in cash reserves, and total reserves of over £4m, NI’s largest farm lobby organisation is well placed to meet any future challenges.

Business groups want logjam lifted

A collection of 11 local business groups, including the NI Food and Drink Association (NIFDA), has written to the NI Secretary of State, Karen Bradley asking her to consider proposals to lift the decision making logjam in NI.

In effect, the business groups want senior civil servants to be given the power to take day-to-day decisions normally left to political masters.

In a statement, the business groups cite the recent High Court judgement on the Arc21 incinerator, when the judge ruled that a senior civil servant did not have the legal power to give a green light to a major waste disposal facility in Mallusk.

They believe this could have implications for other key projects, such as the A5 upgrade, the north-south interconnector and the £150m ultra-fast broadband project.