Page 24 - Vol.39-No.1

DAIRY FARMING

DANONE ANNOUNCES AN AMBITIOUS PLAN TO

REDUCE ITS METHANE EMISSIONS

Danone, a leading food company and methane emissions, as part of agriculture search and to support farmers transitioning
one of the world’s largest dairy compa- and livestock activities which represent to regenerative dairy practices.
nies, announces a global action plan to approximately 40% of global methane With this announcement, Danone is the
reduce absolute methane emissions from emissions. first food company to set a methane re-
its fresh milk supply chain by 30% by As a leader of the dairy category, Danone duction target and align with the ambition
20301. Danone expects to remove 1.2 is determined to play its role to reduce of the Global Methane Pledge launched
million tons carbon dioxide equivalent of methane emissions, focusing on: at COP26. The company will report on its
methane emissions by 2030. This ambi- methane emissions, as part of its extra
tious plan builds on the progress Danone •Working with farmers to implement financial disclosure.
has been making in recent years, already regenerative dairy practices and develop
reducing its methane emissions by c. 14% innovative solutions;
between 2018 to 2020. •Collaborating and partnering with
A reduction in methane emissions will peers, governments and Environmental
have immediate benefits for the climate Defense Fund to scale innovation, reporting
that reductions in carbon dioxide cannot and advance financing models;
achieve on their own, according to the •Advocating and engaging with govern-
IPCC2. Dairy production from cattle makes ments to improve methane policies, data
up an estimated 8% of total human-caused and reporting as well as funding for re-
Circle 33 on enquiry card
PROBIOTICS AND ITS IMPACT ON

CALF GUT HEALTH

Diarrhoea in calves occurs at approx- many enteric pathogens such as bacteria mentation that include the media they are
imately 2 weeks of age and is often and viruses colonise the gut and cause grown in).
linked with gut microbiota disorder inflammation and then diarrohea. Supplementation of yeast products in
and damage to the gut mucosal barri- pre-weaning phase promotes optimal mat-
er. According to the U.S. Department uration of the rumen microbiota, increases
of Agriculture, annual calf diarrhoea starter intake, average daily gain, and faecal
mortality rate is up to 25% in the US. consistency, modulates gut mucosal im-
Calf diarrhoea leads to tremendous munity, and reduces the risk of pathogen
economic loss due to high mortality rate, colonisation.
treatment and labour costs, lower growth The most extensively used probiotic
performance, and breeding cost. Therefore, strain of yeast for farm animals is Sac-
it is essential to effectively prevent and charomyces cerevisiae, which stabilises
control diarrhoea in calves by improving rumen pH and increases cellulolytic bac-
gut health.
Probiotics teria growth in the early rumen conditions.
Role of gut microbiota Probiotics are living microorganisms in- Calves supplemented with Saccharomyces
Gut microbial composition in pre-wean- cluding bacteria and yeast that are supple- cerevisiae show no drop in weight gain dur-
ing a diarrheic episode.
ing calves affects their health and growth mented in adequate amounts to improve
performance. Gut microbiota has several gut health and decrease the incidence of Moreover, supplementation of Saccha-
functions such as carbohydrate and fibre diarrohea in calves. In the next section the romyces cerevisiae to calves with failed
degradation, dietary lipid intake and depo- impacts of yeast products and bacteri- transfer of passive immunity improve per-
sition regulation, vitamins and short-chain al-based probiotics will be discussed. formance and decrease diarrhoea duration.
fatty acids production, immune system Supplementing yeast culture in starter feed
stimulation, gut movement control, and Impact of yeast products increase the abundance of Butyrivibrio and
host protection from gut pathogens. Yeast products prevent microbial imbal- decrease Presvotella richness in rumen fluid,
ances and augment microbial activity in thus enhancing butyrate production, pa-
In newborn calves, various microorgan-
isms from the external environment enter calves which, in turn, reduce the incidence pillae length, and rumen weight.
and colonise in the digestive tract and any and severity of diarrhoea. Available yeast Yeast culture improves gut development
disfunction in gut absorption, movement, products on the market include live yeast through increased villus height and villus
and secretion disturbs gut microbiota. (fermentable living yeast that are dried) height-to-crypt ratio in all segments of the
When the gut microbial barrier is breached, and yeast cultures (products of yeast fer- small intestine, and increased villi length

22 Vol. 39 No. 1