Dietary wheat and reduced methane yield are linked to rumen microbiome changes in dairy cows.

ABSTRACT: Fermentation of pasture grasses and grains in the rumen of dairy cows and other ruminants produces methane as a by-product, wasting energy and contributing to the atmospheric load of greenhouse gasses. Many feeding trials in farmed ruminants have tested the impact of dietary components on feed efficiency, productivity and methane yield (MeY). Such diets remodel the rumen microbiome, altering bacterial, archaeal, fungal and protozoan populations, with an altered fermentation outcome. In dairy cows, some dietary grains can reduce enteric methane production. This is especially true of wheat, in comparison to corn or barley. Using a feeding trial of cows fed rolled wheat, corn or barley grain, in combination with hay and canola, we identified wheat-associated changes in the ruminal microbiome.

SUBMITTER: Savin KW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9119556 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature