On the cover: An interdisciplinary research team is developing methane-blocking compounds that eventually could be added to livestock feed to reduce methane production in cattle and other ruminants. Here, IANR Biochemist Steve Ragsdale checks a fermenter that grows pure cultures of methane-producing bacteria found in the rumen of cattle and other ruminants. NU is patenting the team's enzyme inhibitor process. Inhibiting methane could cut feed costs 30 percent, but Ragsdale says the greatest benefit could be reducing global warming because methane is a major greenhouse gas.
Cover photo by Brett Hampton