It is estimated that the belching of ruminating livestock -cattle, buffalo, sheep and goats - are responsible for more that 14% of global greenhouse gas emissions - level that puts livestock on a par with transport. Ruminants produce produce nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide and methane, which is the most emitted gas and is released through belching. Efforts are underway to reduce those emissions - breeding animals that burp less, adjusting their diets so they produce less methane and planting trees in pastures. Texas-based Bezoar Laboratories is taking a different approach - working on a type of probiotic - helpful bacteria or yeasts in the digestive system - that research has shown can achieve 50% reduction of cattle methane emission. Although less prevalent than carbon dioxide - the leading greenhouse gas - methane is more potent because it traps signficantly more heat (2016 Global Carbon Project study). Bezoarâs probiotic can be put in water or feed, and even sprinkled on grass. The firm's first product is a patent-pending cattle probiotic that, when paired with nitrate, decreases methane emissions from cattle by 50%, increases animal product (beef and dairy), decreases pathogens by 300%, and prevents nitrate poisoning in cattle, all while saving the producer money.
