Future Dairy: Lower Methane, Higher Sustainability
Dr. Angela Schwarm and her team at NMBU lead ViableCow, a €1M, five-year initiative tackling dairy methane emissions for sustainable production. Combining cutting-edge science and global collaboration, this groundbreaking project leverages decades of expertise in ruminant nutrition to transform the dairy industry, driving significant change.
For decades, researchers focused on reducing feed energy loss from methane emissions during enteric fermentation in dairy cows. Today, however, the environmental impact of methane—a potent greenhouse gas—has garnered increased attention and funding. This contributes not only to global warming but also to feed energy loss in cows, reducing the efficiency of milk production. According to recent estimates, enteric fermentation accounts for approximately 30% of anthropogenic methane emissions globally (or around 17% of total anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions). The ViableCow project takes an interdisciplinary approach to examine feed efficiency, immune response, and microbiome heritability, while uniquely testing combinations of proven feed additives for potential additive effects.
“If we could rank cows by their methane and carbon dioxide emissions, farmers could have a powerful tool to identify the most efficient milk producers,” Dr Schwarm explains. Such an instrument would enable farmers to optimise milk production while reducing their environmental footprint—a win-win for agriculture and the planet. This ranking system could also provide essential data for breeding programs, fostering the development of herds that are both productive and environmentally friendly.
A Multidimensional Approach to Sustainability
One of the workpackages of this project focuses on ranking cows based on their daily methane and carbon dioxide emissions, identifying high-efficiency cows that convert feed into milk with minimal loss. The team of researchers also investigates whether low methane-emitting cows exhibit compromised immune responses. Surprisingly, initial findings indicate that these cows do not show reduced digestibility or immune efficiency. It can be speculated that cows producing 20 instead of 15 kg of milk from a similar amount of feed have a more efficient energy metabolism, but it seems not to be related to the microbial efficiency or having a negative impact on the immune response. Dr Schwarm highlights this complexity, stating, “It’s crucial to ensure that environmental efficiency comes not at a cost to animal health.”
Another key aspect of the research examines how the microbial communities in cows’ rumens influence methane emissions.
Preliminary results reveal that host specificity of the ruminal microbial community following complete exchange of rumen contents could be confirmed in low but not in high methane-
emitting dairy cows. Low emitters reverted to their original microbiome and maintained low methane emissions, while high emitters that received the donor’s low-emitter microbiome continued to emit high levels of methane, without transitioning into low emitters. For basic science, the why and how behind this finding is very exciting to explore further. Despite high emitters inheriting the microbiome from low emitters, no decrease in methane emission levels was observed, indicating limited potential for microbiome transfer at adult age to alter emissions favorably Additionally, the research team is testing the efficacy of combining natural dietary additives such as vine grape pomace and cracked whole rapeseed lipids. While these additives show methane-reducing effects individually without compromising immune response, their combination did not yield additive benefits, so they simply can be feed separately as sole methane-reducing strategies.
The project results will have implications in both basic science and application in animal breeding, emphasises knowledge dissemination to policymakers and is paving the way for adapting to the digital revolution changing the way livestock farming is organised.
Insights from Global Collaboration
The project’s success is underpinned by international partnerships and collaborations. Postdoctoral researcher Dr Puchun Niu and PhD student Hendra Nur Cahyo have extended their work to leading institutions like Cornell University and UC Davis, collaborating with experts in data modelling.
These partnerships amplify the project’s reach, ensuring access to state-of-the-art methodologies.
The project also benefits from a network of distinguished interdisciplinary collaborators as well as further team members, including immunologists Dr Ulrike Gimsa (Research Institute of Farm Animal Biology, Dummerstorf, Germany) and Dr Ruth Tamara Montero Meza (NMBU); microbiologists Dr Phil B. Pope (Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia) and Velma Tea Essi Aho (NMBU); animal scientists Adrian Omar Maynez Perez (NMBU, PhD student) and Dr Pekka Huhtanen (LUKE, Finland); breeding and genetics expert
are not yet standard practice. However, as modern information and communication technologies—such as the GreenFeed system—become integrated into livestock farming, these data will offer valuable insights for informed farm management.
In the future, when detailed emissions data are routinely available, the insights generated by ViableCow could be used to guide datadriven decisions in farm management, helping to optimise production efficiency and support sustainability efforts. This project therefore contributes to the long-term goal of transforming dairy farming practices, aligning with emerging digital trends and future environmental monitoring requirements.
“Our ultimate goal is to create a framework where farmers can enhance efficiency and sustainability simultaneously,”
Dr Bjørg Heringstad (NMBU, Geno); and modeling specialists Dr Vinicius Carneiro de Souza and Dr Ermias Kebreab (UC Davis, USA). Each collaborator and team member brings unique expertise, from advanced modeling techniques to in-depth studies of microbial communities, enabling the project’s multidisciplinary approach.
One of the key challenges identified during the project so far is the trade-off between methane emission reductions and maintaining feed efficient high-yielding cows. As Dr Schwarm notes, “If we select cows based solely on methane emissions, we risk losing some of the most efficient milk producers. Striking a balance is crucial.” This nuanced approach ensures that economic viability remains at the forefront while addressing environmental goals.
Global Relevance in the Climate Crisis
While the ViableCow project is funded as a basic science initiative, its findings lay important groundwork for future applications. Today, routine on-farm measurements of methane (CH₄) and carbon dioxide (CO₂)
The Road Ahead
While the ViableCow project has already generated significant scientific insights, our focus for 2025 will be on publishing these results. The planned outputs address both immediate and long-term challenges in reducing greenhouse gas emissions from ruminant livestock—through nutritional strategies, digitalisation, and national inventory improvements in the short term, and through advancements in breeding, microbiome research, and animal health in the long term. The practical application of these findings will be a subsequent step that will require close collaboration among researchers, breeders, farmers, and policymakers, as well as continued innovation in feed additives and methane monitoring tools to ensure scalable, cost-effective implementation.
“Our ultimate goal is to create a framework where farmers can enhance efficiency and sustainability simultaneously,” Dr Schwarm concludes. The research group envisions a future where methane reduction strategies are not just an environmental imperative but a standard practice in dairy farming. With projects like ViableCow leading the way, the future of dairy farming looks both viable and vibrant.
ViableCow
Sustainable ruminant production: Feed, microbiome and immune efficiency in low and high methane emitting dairy cows
Project Objectives
ViableCow aims to delineate interactions between feed, microorganisms, immune system and emissions that exert major influence in efficiency and sustainability of ruminant livestock production.
Project Funding Funded by the Research Council of Norway (RCN) (project number: 316157)
Project Owner Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU, Norway)
Project Partners Research Institute for Farm Animal Biology (FBN, Germany)
University of California Davis (UCD, USA)
Project Team
Angela Schwarm (Professor, Principal Investigator), NMBU, Norway • Puchun Niu (Postdoc) NMBU, Norway • Velma T. E. Aho (Postdoc) NMBU, Norway • Hendra Nur Cahyo (PhD Candidate), NMBU, Norway • Adrian Omar Maynes Perez (PhD Candidate), NMBU, Norway Phil B. Pope (Professor, Partner), QUT, Australia • Ulrike Gimsa (Professor, Partner), FBN, Germany • Bjørg Heringstad (Professor, Partner), NMBU, Geno, Norway • Ermias Kebreab (Professor, Partner), UC Davis, USA • Ruth Tamara Montero Meza (Dr, Collaborator), NMBU, Norway • Vinicius Carneiro de Souza (Dr, Collaborator), UC Davis, USA • Pekka Huhtanen (Professor emeritus), LUKE, Finland
Contact Details
Project Coordinator, Professor Angela Schwarm Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) Oluf Thesens vei 6, 1433 Ås, Norway
T: +47 67 23 26 17
E: angela.schwarm@nmbu.no W: https://www.nmbu.no/en/about/ employees/angela-schwarm W: https://prosjektbanken.forskningsradet. no/en/project/FORISS/316157
Professor Angela Schwarm, PhD at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, studies how feed, microbes, the immune system, and emissions affect ruminant production efficiency and sustainability. She is the Principal Investigator for both the ViableCow project (RCN) and the MethanePasture project (Norwegian Agriculture Agency) and actively contributes to the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases as a member of its Animal Nutrition and Animal Health Networks.
