A partnership with Cargill, Genesee Valley Regional Market Authority and Cornell University’s Department of Animal Science will study the gas exchange of dairy cattle and other livestock in a new state-of-the-art lab.
Four climate-controlled respiration chambers capable of holding one cow each, or a couple of sheep, will be used to understand how animals respond to changes in diet with the goal of optimizing livestock nutrition, minimizing greenhouse gas emissions and nutrient waste, and enhancing animal health.
The research will be used to update the university’s nutritional modeling software, the Cornell Net Carbohydrate and Protein System, which helps farmers predict their animals’ feed requirements under farm-specific environmental and nutritional management conditions.
