With the Australian red meat industry committing to a net zero emissions target by 2030, breeding for low methane cattle is an attractive strategy.

Working in collaboration with Meat & Livestock Australia, the University of New England, and Angus Australia, the four-year $15m Low Methane Beef project will create decision making tools to identify cattle that are genetically high in productivity yet low in greenhouse emissions.

How will the project be carried out?

Measurements of methane will be taken on steers at UNE’s Tullimba feedlot, while their sisters are being measured on pasture. Rumen samples from both cattle will not only assess if a cheaper indirect method of measuring methane can be determined but also allow researchers to compare methane output in a paddock vs feedlot setting.

The cattle themselves have been sourced from the Southern Multi Breed beef cattle project and Angus Sire Benchmarking steers with around 8,000 animals participating in this project.

Specialised GreenFeed monitoring systems will capture the amount of carbon dioxide and methane emissions. To achieve this, each animal is trained to eat from a special machine that contains sensors which monitors their breath. Up to 20 animals per machine can be measured per day.

How will this benefit industry?

This project will form the footings for genetically selecting lower emitting cattle while maintaining health, production, carcass and reproduction productivity in the beef industry.

It will focus on compiling existing and creating new data on beef cattle methane emissions, measuring specifically for genetic evaluation, with the goal to generate methane emission research breeding values.

We will deliver research breeding values for methane and provide a pipeline for BREEDPLAN delivery. In a balanced breeding objective, modelling suggests a genetic decrease of methane by 1% per year while productivity still improves which is permanent and cumulative on any feedsource.