Cows help farms capture more carbon in soil, study shows

Livestock produces a lot of methane, which is unlikely ever to be balanced out by carbon captured in the soil, but it does have some positive effects, according to the Soil Association Exchange. Photograph: Getty Images

Cows may belch methane into the atmosphere at alarming rates, but new data shows they may play an important role in renewing farm soil.

Research by the Soil Association Exchange shows that farms with a mixture of arable crops and livestock have about a third more carbon stored within their soil than those with only arable crops, thanks to the animals’ manure.