Feature Animals

Getting creative to cut methane from cows

Less-burpy bovines means fewer greenhouse gases

cows grazing

GREENER COWS  These cows at the Ellinbank Dairy Research Centre in Victoria, Australia, wear backpacks that measure their methane output.

Eddie Jim/Fairfax Syndication

By Laura Beil

- More than 2 years ago

In a pasture outside Edmonton, Canada, you’ll find a few dozen cows doing what cows do: mostly eating. The average animal spends eight-plus hours a day filling its belly, or as is the case with cows, bellies.