Effects of replacing natural pasture hay with Napier grass on lactation performance and estimated methane emissions in dairy cows.

Enyew Mekcha, Bimrew Asmare, Netsanet Beyero, Shigdaf Mekuriaw, Yitayih Ayana

Abstract read

In one paragraph

Article in Scientific reports, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it

0cells of the map it votes in

1citing papers in PubMed

–field-weighted citation impact

1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

Cactus cladode juice as a molasses replacement in urea-multi-nutrient blocks: effects on intake, milk yield, composition, and estimated enteric methane emissions in crossbred dairy cows in dryland Waghimra, Ethiopia.Tropical animal health and production · 2026
Article

4 · The record

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PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Enyew MekchaDepartment of Animal Sciences, College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Bahir Dar University, P.O. Box 79, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. eniyewu@gmail.com.

Bimrew AsmareDepartment of Animal Sciences, College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Bahir Dar University, P.O. Box 79, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia.

Netsanet BeyeroDepartment of Animal Sciences, College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Bahir Dar University, P.O. Box 79, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia.

Shigdaf MekuriawInternational Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Yitayih AyanaDepartment of Animal Science, College of Agriculture, Injibara University, P.O. Box 40, Injibara, Ethiopia.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of replacing natural pasture hay (NPH) with Napier grass hay (NGH) on feed intake, milk yield and composition, feed efficiency, and estimated enteric methane (CH₄) emission intensity of lactating crossbred dairy cows supplemented with a concentrate mixture. Five cows were assigned to treatments in a 5 × 5 Latin square design. The treatments were 100% NPH, 75% NPH + 25% NGH, 50% NPH + 50% NGH, 25% NPH + 75% NGH, and 100% NGH, with concentrate supplementation at 0.5 kg dry matter (DM) per liter of milk. Increasing the level of NGH in the diet increased dietary crude protein (CP) content and improved dry matter (DM) and nutrient intakes (P < 0.001). Milk yield increased significantly (P < 0.001) from 11.4 to 16.1 L/day between cows fed 100% NPH and 100% NGH, respectively, accompanied by higher milk protein yield and improved feed efficiency. Estimated enteric CH₄ emission and intensity decreased (P < 0.001) from 26.9 to 20.6 g/kg milk yield with increasing NGH inclusion. These results demonstrate that replacing NPH with NGH enhances lactation performance, while reducing estimated enteric CH₄ emission intensity, providing a practical climate-smart feeding strategy for smallholder dairy systems in Ethiopia.

Indexed as

Animal FeedLactationMethanePoaceaeAnimal Nutritional Physiological PhenomenaAnimalsCattleDietFemaleMilkMethaneDairy productionFeed efficiencyLactation performanceMethane mitigation

Identifiers

PMID42260003

DOI10.1038/s41598-026-52674-6

PMCPMC13490441

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.