This article originally featured in The Skylark’s newsletter and was written as a condensed news in brief.

Last year, researchers from the University of California found that feeding seaweed to cows reduced the amount of methane they produced by up to 58%.

The study only tested a single type of seaweed – asparagopsis genus – so now a group of scientists and farmers in Maine are testing whether other kinds of seaweed could have the same effect.

Around a quarter of methane produced in the US comes from cattle, therefore such a move could see a significant drop in such greenhouse gas emissions.

It is thought that not only could seaweed reduce the methane production in the cows gut, but it could also be a healthier, cheaper alternative to current cattle feed used.