Chemical reduces cows' carbon 'hoofprint'

ITHACA, N.Y., July 3 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say they have discovered that cows receiving recombinant Bovine Somatotropin, or rbST, supplement produce more milk.

Cornel University researchers say rbST was the first biotech product to be used on American farms and has been in agricultural use for nearly 15 years. Now the scientists have found giving rbST to 1 million cows would enable the same amount of milk to be produced using 157,000 fewer cows. The nutrient savings would be 491,000 metric tons of corn, 158,000 metric tons of soybeans and total feedstuffs would be reduced by 2.3 million metric tons.

There are approximately 9.2 million cows in the United States, so for every 1 million cows supplemented with rbST, the reduction in the carbon footprint is equivalent to removing approximately 400,000 family cars from the road or planting 300 million trees, the scientists said.

"Supplementing cows with rbST on an industrywide scale would improve sustainability and reduce the dairy industry's contribution to water acidification, algal growth and global warming," study lead author Judith Capper said.

The research that also included Professor Dale Bauman, corresponding author Euridice Castaneda-Gutierr and researcher Roger Cady appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.