Open Journal of Animal Sciences, 2019, 9, 286-296 http://www.scirp.org/journal/ojas ISSN Online: 2161-7627 ISSN Print: 2161-7597 DOI: 10.4236/ojas.2019.93024 Jun. 21, 2019 286 Open Journal of Animal Sciences Reduction of Enteric Methane Emission in a Commercial Dairy Farm by a Novel Feed Supplement Hilde Vrancken 1* , Maria Suenkel 1 , Paul R. Hargreaves 2 , Lynette Chew 3 , Edward Towers 4 1 Mootral SA, Rolle, Switzerland 2 SRUC Dairy Research and Innovation Centre, Dumfries, UK 3 InQpharm Group Sdn Bhd, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 4 Brades Farm, Lancaster, UK Abstract Several in vitro fermentation studies had demonstrated the efficacy of Mootral, a patent-pending natural feed supplement, in reducing methane gas produc- tion. In order to test the supplement’s application in a commercial farm, Jer- sey (n = 121) and Holstein-Friesian (HF, n = 275) lactating cows received 500 g of pellets containing 3% Mootral powder for 12 weeks. Their enteric meth- ane gas production was monitored using a hand-held laser methane detector. During 7 weeks of pre-Mootral supplementation period, dry matter intake (DMI), milk yield and milk quality (fat, protein, urea, pH, bulk tank somatic cell count (BTSCC)) were monitored for both herds and continued during 12 weeks of Mootral supplementation (Mootral period), and 4 weeks after with- drawal of Mootral (post-Mootral period). Feed samples were analysed during each period, and feed efficiencies (FE) for each herd were calculated. Compared to the baseline, the methane gas produced by the Jersey and HF cows during the Mootral period were lower by 38.3% and 20.7% (p < 0.05), respectively. DMI for Jerseys were greatest during the pre-Mootral period (p < 0.05), while no difference was recorded for the HF cows. Milk yield increased significantly (p < 0.05) for both herds during Mootral supplementation. FE increased sig- nificantly for the Jersey herd during the Mootral and post-Mootral periods (p < 0.05). Statistically significant changes were detected for urea in both herds, and BTSCC for HF cows, but these did not adversely affect milk quality. Results demonstrated Mootral reduces enteric methane production in lactating cows while increasing milk yield without affecting milk quality. Keywords Rumen Fermentation, Enteric Methane Mitigation, Milk Yield, Laser How to cite this paper: Vrancken, H., Suenkel, M., Hargreaves, P.R., Chew, L. and Towers, E. (2019) Reduction of Enteric Methane Emission in a Commercial Dairy Farm by a Novel Feed Supplement. Open Journal of Animal Sciences, 9, 286-296. https://doi.org/10.4236/ojas.2019.93024 Received: May 10, 2019 Accepted: June 18, 2019 Published: June 21, 2019 Copyright © 2019 by author(s) and Scientific Research Publishing Inc. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution International License (CC BY 4.0). http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Open Access