Assessing forage-based feeding strategies for finishing beef cattle

众所周知，反刍家畜肠道甲烷排放对牛肉生产的环境影响产生负面影响。有效的缓解战略需要对甲烷生产所涉及的生物过程有深刻的了解。本项目主要研究以饲料为基础的饲粮中添加脂肪对饲料消化和其他与温室气体产生相关的瘤胃参数的作用。*我的研究项目的一个长期目标是为养牛者开发饲料补充策略，以减少牛肉生产过程中肠道甲烷的产生。除了环境效益外，减缓还将减少甲烷所代表的生产性能源的损失。在接下来的几年里，我的研究将解决我们目前的一些知识空白，包括：a)脂肪对无淀粉、以饲料为基础的日粮的瘤胃消化、代谢和微生物种群的影响；b)长期补充脂肪对甲烷反应的持久性。*通过体外实验室研究，我将筛选一大批纯脂肪酸和油籽，与通常脂肪含量低的草基质结合使用。体外研究的性质允许对大量治疗进行相对容易和低成本的评估，这将允许确定有希望的治疗在体内进行验证。一项代谢研究将研究脂肪酸对一系列甲烷相关消化和微生物参数的影响。接下来，我们将在长期饲养试验中评估脂肪补充对甲烷排放的相对未知的持续性影响，以评估瘤胃环境是否适应持续脂肪喂养并研究其中的机制。这项试验将涉及通过油籽包合来补充脂肪，这是它在自然界中存在的一种形式。*本研究的另一个长期目标是开发不损害动物福利或生产力的饲料特定肠道甲烷缓解策略。我的研究将有助于国家温室气体减排工作和牛肉系统预测温室气体工具的验证。它将为发达和发展中地区的营养学家提供喂养策略，以减少牛生产系统的环境足迹。此外，该项目注重对本科生和研究生的高质量培训，使他们能够拓宽反刍动物营养及其对牛肉生产系统环境足迹的影响的知识。

It is well established that enteric methane emissions from ruminant livestock negatively impact the environmental impact of beef production. Effective mitigation strategies require a deep rooted understanding of the biological processes involved in methane production. This program focuses on the role of dietary fat supplementation of forage based diets on feed digestion and other rumen parameters associated the production of this greenhouse gas. *A long-term goal of my research program is to develop feed supplementation strategies for cattle producers that will reduce enteric methane production from beef production. In addition to the environmental benefits, mitigation will also decrease the loss of productive energy that methane represents. My research over the next few years will address a number of the current gaps in our knowledge including: a) the effects of fat on rumen digestion, metabolism and microbial populations for starch free, forages based diets and b) the persistency of methane response to long term fat supplementation. *Through in vitro laboratory studies I will screen a large suite of pure fatty acids and oilseeds in combination with grass substrates that typically have low fat contents. The nature of in vitro studies permitting a large number of treatments to be evaluated with relative ease and low cost will allow for the identification of promising treatments to be validated in vivo. A metabolism study will be conducted to investigate fatty acid effects on a range of methane related digestive and microbial parameters. To follow, the relatively unknown persistency effects of fat supplementation on methane emissions will be assessed in a long term feeding trial to assess whether the rumen environment adapts to constant fat feeding and investigate the mechanisms involved. This trial will involve supplementation of fat through oilseed inclusion, one of the forms it occurs in nature. *Another long term objective of this study is to develop forage specific enteric methane mitigation strategies that do not compromise animal well-being or productivity. My research will contribute to the national greenhouse gas abatement efforts and the validation of predictive greenhouse gas tools for beef systems. It will provide nutritionists in developed and developing regions with feeding strategies to reduce the environmental footprint of cattle production systems. Additionally, this program focuses on high quality training of undergraduate and post-graduate students, enabling them to broaden their knowledge of ruminant nutrition and its implications for environmental footprint of beef production systems.