Another one for the "No shit, Sherlock" award.

[dixiegrrrrl]

Greener diet reduces dairy cows' methane burps..
By LISA RATHKE, Associated Press Writer Lisa Rathke, Associated Press Writer – 33 mins ago

COVENTRY, Vt. – Vermont dairy farmers Tim Maikshilo and Kristen Dellert, mindful of shrinking their carbon footprint, have changed their cows' diet to reduce the amount of gas the animals burp — dairy cows' contribution to global warming.

Coventry Valley Farm is one of 15 Vermont farms working with Stonyfield Farm Inc., whose yogurt is made with their organic milk, to reduce the cows' intestinal methane by feeding them flaxseed, alfalfa, and grasses high in Omega 3 fatty acids. The gas cows belch is the dairy industry's biggest greenhouse gas contributor, research shows, most of it emitted from the front and not the back end of the cow.
link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090621/ap_on_re_us/us_burpless_cows
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Ok, so to reduce methane, they give the cows a healthier diet, essentially.
And look at what happened:

Maikshilo and Dellert have also noticed a difference in Hester, Rosebud, Pristine and their other cows. The coats of the black and white Holsteins and brown Jerseys are shinier and they've had fewer foot problems and no stomach ailments, they say.
So far, it hasn't cost them any more for their custom-made grain, which the cows only get in the winter. Now they're out grazing on grass in the pasture, getting as many Omega 3s. And the farm's vet bills have gone down.
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Ya feed cows grass instead of grain and they get healthier, whoda guessed?

[izquierdista]

1. The right thing to do

Why is it that the right thing to do is also the one that requires the least inputs from big agribusiness?

[FourScore]

2. Duh.

k&r

[Mira]

3. K&R thanks for digging up the research

[AwakeAtLast]

4. That is one thing I miss about living on a farm

watching the cows graze in our fields. My family doesn't have cattle anymore. When we did, we fed them grass most of the time, but some silage when in the barn lots.

Call me crazy, but there is something soothing about watching cattle graze.

[dixiegrrrrl]

5. Know what ya mean. It is relaxing.

I also used to sit for hours..I mean hours...on the back porch watching my chickens in the yard.