Solving the Belch

New Zealand scientists are conducting world-first research into solutions for agricultural methane emissions including genetic engineering, cloning and a vaccine for gassy animals. “Given that we’re trying to turn around hundreds of thousands of years of evolution, it’s no small challenge,” said Mark Aspin, manager of New Zealand’s Pastoral Greenhouse Gas Research Consortium. If the 25 full-time researchers in Aspin’s labs discover the secret to making livestock less belchy and flatulent, they could help make billions of farm animals around the world more  environmentally friendly. It’s up to scientists to give farmers the weapons against global warming, Aspin said. “There’s a very strong ethos in New Zealand farmers,” he added. “They do feel like they are stewards of the land.”