Growth hormone in dairy cows a greenhouse-gas plus: study

0 Comments | AFP, July, 2008

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Giving one million dairy cows a growth hormone makes them produce more milk would cut greenhouse gas emissions equal to taking 400,000 cars off the road, a US study found.

Large scale cow milk production requires the use of huge amounts of land, water and feed resources, noted Judith Capper, a researcher at Cornell University in New York.

But using rbST -- the first biotech product used on US farms which has been in farm use for about 15 years -- can help reduce the "carbon hoofprint" while still meeting dairy demand, she explained.

Known as either recombinant bovine somatotropin (rBST), recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH), or artificial growth hormone, the hormone has been used in the United States for over a decade to boost milk...