New animal science facility supports methane reduction and climate resilience

Thanks to partnerships with industry, government and New York farmers, Cornell’s Department of Animal Science is now home to new, state-of-the-art animal resuscitation barns that will enable research into animal nutrition, health and climate impacts. The facility is the first of its kind in the US

Cornell researchers and administrators celebrated the facility with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on April 18, along with partners from Cargill, the Genesee Valley Regional Market Authority, Balchem ​​Corporation and the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets.

“This facility typifies our land grant mission by creating a new, transdisciplinary meeting place where researchers and community partners can work together to solve grand challenges,” said Benjamin Houlton, Ronald P. Lynch dean of Cornell’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. . “These measurements of animal respiration will accelerate innovations in livestock sustainability both locally and around the world, and we are so grateful to our New York state and industry partners for their continued support of this important project .”

The new Cornell University Animal Respiration Chambers are individual, climate-controlled chambers made of stainless steel with glass windows. Researchers will use the new facilities to understand how much greenhouse gases livestock farming produces and what management techniques can reduce these climate-warming gases. Livestock emit methane, which is the second largest contributor to global warming after carbon dioxide. Researchers will, among other things, test changes in livestock diet with the aim of optimizing nutrition for efficient milk and meat production, better animal health and minimal production of greenhouse gases. Joseph McFadden, associate professor of animal sciences, led the effort to install the facility.

“This technology will allow us to more accurately answer questions about livestock’s contribution to climate change and more effectively test strategies to reduce those impacts,” McFadden said. “The overall goal is to optimize meat and milk production, ensure animal health and welfare, and minimize greenhouse gas emissions and nutrient waste.”

The animal resuscitation facility was funded in part by a capital grant from the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, and Deputy Commissioner Elizabeth Wolters attended the ribbon cutting. Commissioner Richard Ball praised the partnership that made the facility possible.

“New York State is proud to have a leading climate agenda, and as part of that, we want to help our farmers reduce methane emissions on their farms,” Ball said. “Cornell’s new breathing chambers will be a critical part of that effort, allowing researchers to conduct state-of-the-art experiments in highly controlled environments to understand how animals respond to changes in diet. The results of this work will help our farming community better understand how to care for their animals, while ensuring they can produce the local, nutritious food our communities depend on.”

The Genesee Valley Regional Market Authority (GVRMA), a New York State government agency serving farmers in nine counties in Western New York, was an early proponent of the new facility. Dairy farmers care deeply about providing nutritious food to their communities and protecting the environment for future generations, said Brendan Tydings, the GVRMA administrator. Industry group US Dairy has set a goal for the national dairy community’s carbon footprint to be net zero by 2050.

“Everyone realizes the importance of this, but how do you implement it and make it happen? That’s why the types of research that Professor McFadden will be doing in this new facility are so important, to give substance to these somewhat lofty goals, to show where we need to prioritize our time and energy to make it realistic,” Tydings said. “This will provide our dairy farmers with a tool to test and evaluate what they do in the future so they can continue to improve.”

Read the full story on the CALS website.

Krisy Gashler is a staff writer for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.