Microbiome in relation to CH4 and NH3 emissions

Dairy farming is an important sector in the Netherlands that contributes to methane and ammonia emissions. The Climate Agreement indicates that emission reduction via an integrated feed- and animal-oriented approach should be investigated, including using the natural variation of animal digestion. Previous research shows that 2 tracks are important: feed strategies and the (rumen) microbiome. For both tracks, steering via both animal management and breeding has been used. This project plan concerns research on the track of microbiome and animal management. The 2022 work plan is part of a multi-year plan started in 2021. For the feed and animal management track, two courses of action have been identified that can be used in parallel and are expected to have additive reduction effects:

1. Altering the microbiome by intervening in microbiome development
2. Exploit interactions between the microbiome and animal and environmental management

Action 1 involves permanently changing the microbiome to reduce the baseline emission level of livestock. Action 2 involves exploiting the reduction potential associated with the emission variation within a base level.

Besides investigating these two courses of action, the research also focuses on 'microbiome techniques' needed to make the research possible but not yet available. These include a wide range of sampling, preservation techniques, laboratory techniques, data processing techniques and techniques for interpretation of results.