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There’s a new way to reduce emissions from cows, potty train them. I’m Brian Banmiller on Business.

It all started with a half-serious question on a New Zealand radio talk show about the problem of livestock waste. Why not teach them to use the toilet? Well, turns out they can. In fifteen days, researchers at the University of Auckland trained eleven out of sixteen young cows to use the moo-loo when they had to go. They put the cows in a special pen. When they urinated they were given a sweet liquid treat. If they went outside the moo-loo they were squirted with cold water. Over time, the cows were allowed to roam, and when they had to urinate, they pushed their way back into the special pen, did their business and were rewarded. The experiment only focused on urine because livestock urine is a big problem. A single cow can produce eight gallons of urine a day. In twenty nineteen the ammonia from that made up seven percent of all US greenhouse gases. Now they can contain some of that. The next problem, how to make cows less gassy? Brian Banmiller, CBS News.

About Brian

CBS News Radio national business journalist Brian Banmiller has spent more than 40 years in the news industry, covering business, politics and the economy on television, radio and in print. Currently, his “Banmiller on Business” reports are delivered to an audience of millions nationwide.