Monsanto's recombinant hormone could help increase milk productivity in cows and cut the number of animals needed for mass production
A hormone used to boost milk production in dairy cows may help reduce the environmental damage caused by the dairy industry, a study from Cornell University has found. It says that the higher productivity from using the product would cut the input resources needed and the resulting greenhouse gas emissions. 
Photo: Anne Koth
Recombinant bovine somatotrophin (rbST), produced by Monsanto, has been used in the US dairy industry for around 15 years, but is banned in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the European Union. Monsanto produces rbST under the brand name Posilac, using genetically engineered Escherichia coli.
Cows receiving rbST give up to 16% more milk, the study has found. Researcher and lead author Judith L Capper suggests that giving the drug to an additional 1 million cows would enable the same amount of milk to be produced by 157,000 fewer cows, saving 491,000 tonnes of maize and 158,000 tonnes of soybeans as feed ingredients. Total feedstuff use would reduce by 2.3 million tonnes, the land needed for dairy cows would shrink by around 540,000 acres, with an annual 2.3 million-tonne reduction in soil erosion.
Emissions from the dairy industry would also reduce. For every 1 million cows supplemented, 824 million kg of carbon dioxide would be saved, along with 41 million kg of methane and 96,000 kg of nitrous oxide.
The study indicates that this is equivalent to planting 300 million trees or removing 400,000 cars from the roads. Ms Capper comments: "Supplementing cows with rbST on an industry-wide scale would improve sustainability and reduce the dairy industry's contribution to water acidification, algal growth and global warming."
The research team included Dale E Bauman, Cornell professor of animal science and the corresponding author; Euridice Castaneda-Gutierrez, former Cornell postdoctoral researcher; and Roger A Cady, of Monsanto Co, St Louis.
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