Abstract

No single enteric CH 4 mitigating strategy has been consistently effective or is readily applicable to ruminants in grassland systems. When CH 4 mitigating strategies are effective under grazing conditions, mitigation is mild to moderate at best. A study was conducted to evaluate the potential of combining two CH 4 mitigation strategies deemed feasible to apply in grazing dairy cows, the methanogenesis inhibitor 3-nitrooxypropanol additive (3-NOP) and cottonseed supplementation (CTS), seeking to enhance their individual CH 4 mitigating potential. Forty-eight dairy cows were evaluated in a continuous grazing study and supplemented with either a starch-based concentrate (STA) or one that contained cottonseeds (1.75 kg DM/d; CTS), and with either 19 g/d of 10% 3-NOP (Bovaer (R) ) or the additive's carrier (placebo), in a 2 x 2 factorial arrangement of treatments. Treatments were supplied mixed with a concentrate supplement (5 kg/d as fed) and offered in two equal rations at milking. Methane emissions were measured on weeks 4 and 8 using the sulphur hexafluoride tracer gas technique over a 5-d period. The 3-NOP and CTS treatments tended to interact on absolute CH 4 such that 3-NOP decreased CH 4 by 13.4% with STA, but there was no mitigation with 3-NOP and CTS. Treatment interactions were also obtained for CH 4 yield, where 3-NOP tended to decrease CH 4 when supplied with STA, and tended to increase it with CTS. The increase in CH 4 yield with the CTS diet was driven by a numerical decrease in DM intake. Methane intensity was not affected by the 3-NOP or CTS treatments. Total volatile fatty acids in ruminal fluid were not affected by 3-NOP supplementation, but a reduction in acetate and an increase in propionate proportion occurred, resulting in decreased acetate: propionate. The 3-NOP additive decreased grass intake; however, energy - corrected milk yield and milk composition were largely unaffected. Milk urea increased with 3-NOP supplementation. Combining twice daily supplementation of 3-NOP and CTS did not enhance their CH 4 mitigation potential when fed to grazing dairy cows. The relatively low inhibition of CH 4 production by 3-NOP compared to studies with total mixed rations may result from the mode of delivery (pulse dosed twice daily) and time gap caused by experimental handling and moving of animals to pasture after 3-NOP supplementation in the milking parlour, which could have impaired the synchrony between the additive presence in the rumen and grass intake in paddocks. (c) 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of The Animal Consortium. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).